Mathieu van der Poel reportedly set for Il Lombardia return and Gravel Worlds following World Championships road race

In just a couple of days, Mathieu van der Poel is set to try and retain his Rainbow Jersey in the men's elite road race at the 2024 World Championships in Zürich. According to reports though, the Dutchman's season won't finish there. 

According to a report by HLN, whether Van der Poel is able to successfully defend his World Championship title or not, the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader is set for a return to Il Lombardia. Not since 2020 has Van der Poel attempted this monument, finishing 10th on that occasion as Jakob Fuglsang took the victory ahead of George Bennett and Aleksandr Vlasov. 

Van der Poel has been making a noted and concerted effort to improve his climbing in recent weeks ready for the hilly and challenging course in Switzerland this Sunday. "It will be difficult to extend my title, but we will try. We will try to be a bit lighter than in the spring. That is important. Just like scheduling a few longer training sessions, since the World Championships will be a long race. There is a small chance, but the course of the race will determine a lot. I am not one of the top favourites on that course, but that may give me some room," he told WielerFlits recently. 

According to the report by HLN though, more than just Il Lombardia could lay in store for Van der Poel before he likely turns his attention back to cyclocross this Winter. "Van der Poel is also eyeing the World Championship Gravel (6 October) between Halle and Leuven," HLN claims. 

"I have a problem: who will be the leader?" the Dutch selector Laurens Ten Dam wondered on his podcast Live Slow Ride Fast recently, in reference to the Gravel World Championship. "I was in a conversation with Christoph Roodhooft and I had six Dutchmen in mind. At one point I tried not to even mention Mathieu, because I thought: that's not going to happen. It's a course for him, but he's very uncertain."