Mathieu van der Poel will target a sixth cyclocross world title in Tabor next February, returning to the site of his first UCI World Championships victory nearly 10 years on. It will be a full circle moment for the Dutchman who hailed it as a “beautiful memory.”
The reigning cyclocross world champion will show off his rainbow stripes for the first time in the 2023-24 season on December 22 at the Exact Cross Mol, but doesn’t seem too pent up about winning every race with only the world title in Tabor at the forefront of his objectives.
He feels he’s become more of a road racer into his late 20s, and stated that the clock is ticking on his time in the discipline, mainly down to goals.
“I still have many [goals] on the road, much less in the field. I don’t do cyclocross racing just to win again in Diegem,” said Van der Poel to Het Nieuwsblad.
“I want to peak once, at the World Championships, and if I don’t reach my level in the other races – as was the case last year – then so be it. I want to become world champion again.”
Van der Poel also spoke previously about giving up the discipline to focus on other goals and admitted that he was only chasing more world titles intending to join record holder Erik de Vlaeminck on seven. The five-time winner wasn’t complacent, however.
“It’s one of the reasons why I keep racing. Other than that I don’t have many goals in the field,” he said to Sporza. “That record is a big challenge, but so is becoming world champion.
“If the team thinks that I can reach a better level without cross, then that is something to think about. A quiet winter in Spain would also be nice. But I have had my best road season with a cross winter. That’s why I’m still doing it.
“I don’t believe it has a negative effect, certainly not for me. I can always use competition, although it does take energy of course.”
Van der Poel has also gone through a similar process to close rival Wout van Aert as they prepare to rejoin the CX world, with the Belgian’s 2023-24 season debut arriving on Saturday in Essen.
Both have had to enjoy an ‘annual wakeup’ in the field. Van der Poel has trained twice off-road, once in a forest in Belgium and more recently on the beach in Spain, though it seems his preference was unsurprisingly the sunny climate.
“That first time is terrible. In Belgium, I trained once in the forest of Lichtaart and just that cold air hurt my lungs,” he said. “I am no longer used to that specific effort. I’m not necessarily going…
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