Newly crowned elite men’s road race world champion from the Netherlands Mathieu van der Poel will now turn his attention to the mountain bike events beginning with the short track finals on August 10 and cross-country event on August 12, both held at Glentress Forest at the combined UCI World Championships.
Should Van der Poel succeed in winning the mountain bike event, he would be the first male rider to have secured world titles in cyclo-cross, road and mountain biking in the same season after taking out the UCI Cyclocross Worlds in February.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot made history in the 2014-2015 season at the age of 23, when she became the first cyclist to simultaneously hold world titles in the three disciplines.
Van der Poel was spotted training along the circuit at Glentress Forest on Tuesday, just two days after he captured a stunning solo victory in the elite men’s road race despite ahead of Wout van Aert of Belgian and Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia.
Van der Poel, along with Tom Pidcock, are both confirmed to compete in the short track event, having been added to the official start list.
A qualification round for the short track event was cancelled on Tuesday, August 8, because there are not enough participants to need qualifications.
However, the pair are expected to compete in the final on Thursday at 5:45 pm local time for a ‘sprint race’ of approximately 20 minutes for the world title.
The Dutch national team, KNWU, had previously announced that Van der Poel would rejoin the mountain bike programme on Thursday, and then he would prepare for the cross-country competition held on Saturday, also at Glentress Forest, one hundred kilometres east of Glasgow.
“The status is unchanged from yesterday. He is on the start list because he is registered, which is necessary; otherwise, he cannot race at all,” the KNWU said.
The short track event is normally used to determine the order of the riders in the front rows during the World Cup season; however, the event is held separately at this combined Cycling World Championships.
Van der Poel will start at the back during the cross-country event because he currently has no points in the world ranking.
The short track race will be held on a shortened course of 900 metres with 33 vertical meters on each lap.
Pidcock, who did not compete at the elite men’s road race last Sunday, will line up for Great Britain at the short track and cross-country events.
Pidcock is the reigning Olympic Champion in the…
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