Mathieu van der Poel confirmed for Tour de France and Olympic road race; no MTB participation in Paris

Alpecin-Deceuninck have revealed the upcoming race calendars for their two most notable names, Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen.

For the Rainbow Jersey, just two races are on the programme. Firstly, van der Poel will return to the Tour de France for the fourth straight year between 29/06 and 21/07 before the Dutch superstar stays in France for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games just a couple of weeks later. Notably however, only the men's elite road race will be on the cards and not as had been though initially, the mountain bike.

“This is the most logical choice to be able to prepare for my goals without time pressure,” says van der Poel. “The combination with MTB was too difficult. But who knows, maybe in LA ‘28 I can focus on mountain biking. My ambition for the Tour de France? I hope like last year to assist teammate Jasper Philipsen in his hunt for stage wins and a possible green jersey. And the goal is to also win a stage myself this year.”

Jasper Philipsen meanwhile will be skipping the Olympic Games altogether. The Belgian will make his return to racing at the Baloise Belgium Tour (12/06 - 16/06), before staying in his homeland for the Belgian National Championships on the 23rd of June. After winning the Green Jersey last year at the Tour de France, alongside four stage wins, the 26-year-old will attempt to defend the points classification later this summer.