Mathieu van der Poel picked his long-time cyclocross rival Wout van Aert for the mental side of his ultimate rider. “Probably Wout,” he said when asked whose mentality he would take in a seven-category quickfire round with TNT Sports. Tadej Pogacar got the climbing pick, and Van der Poel found room for himself in two categories.
At the 2025 Cyclocross World Championships in Lievin, Van Aert was 16th after the opening lap and already 46 seconds behind Van der Poel. He was up to second two laps later and came away with silver. At Paris-Roubaix this April, he recovered from two punctures, went clear with Pogacar and beat him in the velodrome.
Van der Poel’s seven ultimate rider picks
“Tim Merlier at the moment,” Van der Poel said when asked for a sprinter. In Pontivy in 2021, he helped lead Merlier out for his first Tour de France stage win while wearing the yellow jersey himself. Jasper Philipsen finished second that day to give Alpecin a one-two.
For the time trial, Van der Poel went with Remco Evenepoel. Two of his picks shared the Olympic time trial podium in Paris in 2024. Evenepoel took gold and Van Aert bronze, with Filippo Ganna between them. Less than two months later, Evenepoel defended his world title in Zurich.
| Quality | Pick |
| Climbing | Tadej Pogacar |
| Sprinting | Tim Merlier |
| Time trialling | Remco Evenepoel |
| Descending | Tom Pidcock |
| Endurance | Mathieu van der Poel |
| Mentality | Wout van Aert |
| Explosiveness | Mathieu van der Poel |
Van der Poel answered “Myself” for endurance and “Myself, maybe” for explosiveness. At Paris-Roubaix in 2024, he attacked on the cobbles at Orchies with 60 kilometres to go. Nobody went with him, and he reached the velodrome three minutes clear.
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Tom Pidcock got the descending pick. On his Tour debut in 2022, he caught Chris Froome on the way down from the Galibier and the two rode across to the break. Pidcock then dropped Louis Meintjes on the final climb and reached the top of Alpe d’Huez alone for his first Tour stage win.
There’s a quiet compliment in borrowing the mentality of a rider you’ve spent years trying to beat.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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