Dutch coaches hope Mathieu van der Poel will balance mountain bike competitions with Glasgow World Championships: "In theory it should be possible to combine"

Mathieu van der Poel is one of the biggest names in the modern cycling world. As such the coaches of his national teams are hoping he will be able to split his time between both mountain bike and the road cycling World Championships later this year.

Dutch road cycling coach Koos Moerenhout has been to look at the world championship road race course in Glasgow and believes it could be perfect for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider. "The start is in Edinburgh and then it is 120 kilometres to Glasgow, where we drive local laps through the city centre. They are difficult, it is really a gruelling course. It is twisting and turning, up and down. Climbs of 200 to 300 meters," he says. "Wherever Mathieu starts, he is one of the top favourites. There are more contenders, but at the moment when the big three, to call them just that, are involved, there is simply very little that can be done with them. That has been proven time and again."

Away from the road, van der Poel has already proved his prowess this year, taking his fifth cyclocross World Championship title and national coach Gerben De Knegt hopes he will return off-road and aide the country's mountain bike hopes.

"We will race on Saturday, August 12, a week after the road race, so in theory it should be possible to combine," he says. "Given the normal proportions, you could say that Mathieu van der Poel is the best mountain biker. Because he has won several World Cups and he has won a World Championship medal."