Mathieu van der Poel already switches to mountain bike after Tour de France - World Championships on his mind as he trains in Italy
CyclingMonday, 10 August 2026 at 13:15
Mathieu van der Poel has dropped his road bike and replaced it with a mountain bike - re-focusing to a new discipline just two weeks after his Tour de France heroics.
The former World champion was in fine form at La Grand Boucle, claiming two breakaway wins and helping Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen also take a big win over an eventful three weeks in France.
However, van der Poel is now training on his mountain bike in a Livigno training camp as he sets his sights on the World Championships. Despite tasting success in cyclo-cross and road, the 31-year-old has never won the rainbow bands in the discipline - with a bronze in 2018 being his best finish.
During the Tour, he outlined his desire to ride the championships and even use a World Cup participation to sharpen the tools. He will also battle with Tom Pidcock in the discipline.
Last year, Van der Poel finished 29th at the World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. The Elite Men's Mountain bike cross-country race is scheduled for August 30th in Val di Sole, Italy.
Van der Poel fully focused on MTB
“After the Tour, the full focus goes to mountain biking. I’ll then have about a month to prepare myself for the World Championships.
"Normally, I’ll do one more World Cup race, just like last year in Les Gets [August 23, ed.], and then it’s on to the World Championships.”
When it comes to the road, a participation at the Canadian WorldTour one-day races of GP de Québec and GP de Montréal on September 11th and 13th are on the cards, followed by potentially the World Championships Elite Men's race on September 27th.
Mathieu van der Poel beat Tadej Pogacar and the sprinters in Paris
Tour de France finale in Paris
The Dutchman was in top shape at the end of the Tour de France as he emptied the tank to hold off the sprinters in a nail-biting finale, dropping Tadej Pogacar in a sprint to the line in the process.
"I think everyone has seen before that I can go very deep in a finish," Van der Poel told NOS. "I have said it a few times already, but this was maybe the deepest I have ever gone."
Him and the Slovenian built a solid lead after final Montmartre ascent, but the well-organized chase of Decathlon CMA CGM quickly whittled down their advantage in last five kilometers.
"I actually thought it was over," he said. "With 500 metres to go, I thought I had nothing left to lose. I put my head down and rode as hard as possible towards the finish."
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- "in the cards"whkman10-08-2026
- she didn't get death threats, and she's not a victim, bunch of crap that the useful idiots will believe. you don't want to be in the media's crosshairs, don't do stupid things like impeding a contender.whkman10-08-2026
- alot of pundits online especially twitter contributing to that. Riders dont deserve that. Alot of hate on twittermiguel10-08-2026
- death threats??? no one should have to deal with this. it was a dicey move, very aggressive perhaps. but wrong? well no one was relegated so it was ok. as Demi said, when she was in yellow, no one waited for her. Maybe Kasia should have taken the inside so the corner couldn’t have been removed by FDJ. I don’t like that she did this, I don’t agree with it. but it is within hard racing to many. death threats, and really any threats, are way out of line.mij10-08-2026
- hiring young guns instead of almost retired ex-stars. the right way to go!Ketterechts10-08-2026
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Senna196010-08-2026 - The thing is for a young rider to not get into controversial positions at all. She did impede Kasia and that brings consequences. If Kasia had crashed, it would be even more. Avoid dirty tactics or be prepared to take the social media consequences in your stridesabstractengineer10-08-2026
- > If Kasia had gone straight to FDJ Suez DS instead, there would have been no death threats. You confuse the effect with the cause. If Gery hadn't been unfair, there wouldn't have been any threats. > And the message that you are sending out here, that a young cyclist deserves to have her life threatened for controversial positioning is extraordinary. What??? I'm not supporting any threats to anyone. So go and be an idiot somewhere else.averagecyclist10-08-2026
- Especially since Gery received death threats!onegear2910-08-2026
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