I do remember the moment that Mathieu van der Poel came into our team, and he was winning so easily races on the road. In the beginning we thought, yeah, okay, but then all of a sudden . . . it went so easy—or it looked too easy, it was easy. He could even decide himself to win or not to win, I guess, at that moment already. And then me and my brother said, okay, if we want to keep this guy, we have to step up and we have to give him another challenge. . . . It was not completely in our will, let's say, or at least not in my will. But of course in the beginning it's exciting, and then all of a sudden, yeah, you are there. That's how it went for us.
Mathieu van der Poel is a combination of a lot of good things, in the end. Mathieu has a very specific ability to handle stress situations and being there in finals of big races. I think, with him, we saw a special person with a special body, and for sure a special mind and head as well. He used what he got in a brilliant way I think.