Alpecin Deceuninck's debut season on the World Tour has been uneventful so far. Two months into the new year, the Belgian team has yet to win or even reach the podium. Jasper Philipsen's crash at the Coure Brussel Kuhne didn't help, of course, but the opening weekend seemed to have almost passed by.

However, director Christoph Rudhoft expressed optimism in the pages of Het Laatste Nieuws (open in new tab) on Thursday morning. Within two weeks the world could be completely different."

Rudtoft knows that the outlook may be altogether brighter this Saturday, when the team's main man, Mathieu van der Pol, starts his road season at Strade Bianche. No rider in the peloton can change the narrative as quickly as the Dutchman.

Let's take a look back at the cyclocross season. Van der Pol battled a back injury all winter, but defied previous logic by defeating his eternal rival, Wout van Aert, at the World Championships in Hoogerheide.

Meanwhile, 12 months earlier, the same back injury forced van der Pol to miss most of the cyclocross season and delay the start of his road campaign from Milan to San Remo. He left that day with more hope than expectation, but ended up third in the Via Roma. Less than two weeks later, he defeated Taddei Pogachar to win the Douard de Flenderen and the Tour of Flanders.

Van der Pol, who had suffered from a back injury during the winter that was thought to be chronic, said he had a smooth road season this time around; as of January, he said the injury had significantly affected his off-road activities.

"This will probably continue to be my Achilles heel," he said. Not on the road, but in cyclocross, and in mountain biking."

Following team custom, the 28-year-old spent two weeks at the Syncrosfera Hotel in Denia to put the finishing touches on his preparations for the Classic.

"After the cyclo-cross world championships, he took a vacation and then spent two weeks in high altitude at Sinclosfera," Roodhooft told Het Laatste Nieuws (open in new tab). 'He's been back since Sunday and scouted the route [on Thursday]. The Strade Bianche is a difficult race, but also very predictable. No matter how strong the field is, the best will eventually lead the pack."

Van der Pol has competed in Strade Bianche twice. In his debut race at the 2020 event, delayed by a pandemic, he finished a lowly 15th, but the following March he put in a performance for the ages, winning from a high-class breakaway that included Van Aert, Taddei Pogachar, and Tom Pidcock.

Julian Alaphilippe was the last man standing, but succumbed to Van der Pol's acceleration on the final climb up Via Santa Caterina. Few, if any, can hit the high notes of Van der Pol.

The question for Saturday, of course, is whether Van der Poel can replicate that superb performance in the first race of the road season, which will be flanked by gravel world champion Gianni Vermersch, Robert Stannard, and Michal Gogl.

"It is difficult to judge whether Mathieu is as strong as he was when he won the Strade Bianche in 2021. He's motivated, healthy, trains well, and has few physical problems."

Van der Pol insisted last month that winning a fifth world title in cyclocross does not guarantee prospects on the road. 'I'm really happy to be world champion, but it has nothing to do with the road season,' he said. 'I want to race well in the road season. 0]

However, with Pogacar and Van Aert sidelined on Saturday, Van der Poel is the clear favorite to win the race, along with Alaphilippe, who was a sure winner in last week's Von Ardèche Classic. The Tuscany race marks the start of a two-week Italian swing for Van der Poel. Van der Poel will turn his attention to the cobblestones after participating in Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo.

Alpecin Deceuninck has been on an early winning streak in recent seasons, earning a three-year World Tour license. For example, this past winter, when climber Jay Vine moved to UAE Team Emirates, Sören Krav Andersen was the newest addition to the team.

"Our starts have been mediocre and the rest of the team is doing well, but we are not crying in the corner," he says. 'The leaders are barely in the race.' A total of 12 riders are training at altitude. We did this in order to be higher up in a race that is important to us, but there are consequences. Only later will we know if we were foolish or if we did the right thing."

Van der Pol, as Van der Pol, may answer immediately at Siena on Saturday.