Flying Dutchman Van der Poel extends Alpecin-Deceuninck contract

Dutch world road race champion Mathieu van der Poel confirmed Monday he has penned a contract extension with Belgian team Alpecin-Deceuninck until the end of 2028.

"This extension is a logical choice for me," said the 29-year-old grandson of former France cycling star Raymond Poulidor, whose previous deal ran until the end of 2025.

"I have grown together with the team and I still feel that we are making progress.

"And although we have already achieved many successes together, I am still hungry for more.

"Not unimportant in the fact is that Alpecin-Deceuninck is also multi-disciplinary.

"This is the perfect team to continue to combine road, mountain bike and cyclocross."

Van der Poel has notably won one-day races including the Tour of Flanders twice, the Paris-Roubaix, the Strade Bianche and the Milan-San Remo.

He finished tenth in the opening Monument race of the season, the Milan-San Remo, on Saturday.