Mathieu van der Poel reportedly set to be supported by Dylan van Baarle and Daan Hoole in Olympic road race

With seven World Championship titles across two-discipline to his name, Mathieu van der Poel will head to Paris later this summer in an attempt to add an Olympic Games gold medal to his already impressive palmares.

With the Dutch team getting the right to pick three riders for men's elite Olympic road race, that meant there were two spots alongside and in support of van der Poel available for the Dutch national coach Koos Moerenhout to choose. A tricky choice to say the least given the vast number of quality Dutch riders in the peloton today. 

With the likes of Olav Kooij, Robert Gesink, Wilco Kelderman, Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan van Baarle, Thymen Arensman, Koen Bouwman among many others, it was certainly a tricky decision for Moerenhout to narrow things down and secure his selection. In the end, the Dutch national coach has opted for the duo of Dylan van Baarle and Daan Hoole. Although the official confirmation is yet to be delivered, this news is reported by Dutch news outlet, CyclingOnline.

For van der Poel, the Olympic Games in Paris are now all about the men's road race after he was officially confirmed to not be taking part in the mountain bike discipline later this summer, as had previously been suggested by reliable sources. “This is the most logical choice to be able to prepare for my goals without time pressure,” said van der Poel to his Alpecin-Deceuninck team when his summer plans were officially confirmed. “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.”