Dutch champion Mathieu van der Poel will soon get into his regular buildup for the cyclocross season, but it won’t be happening quite yet.
With a low-key performance in the Mountain Bike World Championships, his latest competitive event, but a stunning series of Monuments victories also in the bag for 2025, the 30-year-old Alpecin-Deceuninck racer has taken a break. He has spent time in the US, playing golf – his other sporting passion along with cycling – prior to returning to Europe this autumn.
His big goals for 2026 on the road are already clear, where he’ll be vying for a repeat defeat of Tadej Pogačar – something increasingly few riders can say – at Paris-Roubaix as well as a repeat ride in Tour de France. But as the 30-year-old told Het Laatste Nieuws in a recent interview, his cyclocross preparation has yet to get underway, with Belgium’s current spell of poor weather not helping him get the ball rolling.
“It’s more or less the same reason Tadej is also competing in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix: for a challenge.”