Mathieu Van der Pol and Wout Van Aert have seemed to match each other's stride throughout their careers, and the rivalry is likely to continue in their quest for the green jersey at the 2022 Tour de France.

After Van Aert indicated last week that he intends to fight for points at next year's Tour, Alpecin-Phoenix husband-and-wife team Christophe and Philippe Rudhoeft suggested that their team will challenge him for the title, either through Yasper Philipsen or Van der Pol himself.

"When I hear Van Aert say he is going for the green jersey, I wonder what will happen," Christoph Rudhoeft said after receiving the Kristallen Feits award for the best team manager of the year in Belgium, Het Laatste Nieuws (in new tab opens in new tab) told Het Laatste Nieuws (opens in new tab).

"If everything goes somewhat well, that is a very realistic goal for us. I'm also thinking about Yasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Pol."

Rudhoeft's brother Philippe echoed his thoughts. Van der Pol made his Tour debut in 2020, winning the second stage of the Mule de Bretagne and holding the yellow jersey for six days. He then abandoned the race in the first week to concentrate on preparing for the mountain bike competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

"Mathieu is the perfect rider to win the green jersey. Green jersey, and a stage win," said Philippe Rudofuto. [Mark Cavendish won the green jersey at the 2021 Tour, becoming the second Detuning Quick-Step rider after Sam Bennett; Peter Sagan, who will move from Bora-Hansgrohe to Total Energies in 2022, has won the green jersey in eight races between 2012 and 2019. Between them, he won seven green jerseys in eight Tours.

The Rudhoft brothers downplayed the idea that they and Van der Poel in particular were motivated by rivalry with Van Aar, noting that their team was simply competing in the same space (classics and sprints) as Jumbo-Visma and Deceuninck-Quick Step He pointed out that.

"The ambition is the same. Jumbo-Visma, Dezeuninck-Quickstep, and the Alpecin-Phoenix team all want the same thing," said Christoph Rudhoeft.

Van der Pol will look to defend his cyclocross world title this winter and add the Classics title next spring, but he also plans to win the mountain bike world title in the 2022 campaign and even challenge for the first ever gravel world championship.

"I want to be world champion in mountain biking as well. I want to be world champion in mountain biking as well," said Christophe Roudhoft. Only Tom Pidcock can say that in the World Tour peloton."

Alpecin Phoenix this week added Belgian window and door company Deceuninck to its list of sponsors for the next four seasons. 33 wins in 2021, including stage wins in all three Grand Tours, make Alpecin Phoenix once again the highest ranked professional team in the peloton. They are once again the highest-ranked professional team in the peloton. They may eventually step up to the World Tour, but their success means they have earned automatic invitations to all major World Tour races in 2022.

"The number of World Tour licenses is limited. We are trying to reach where we want to be by a different route," said Philippe Rudhoeft.

"The fact that Deceuninck is now joining us is another proof of this. For three years they were the sponsor of the most successful team in the world. Now they are coming to us with enthusiasm. This is a huge compliment."