Mathieu van der Poel reveals surprising race as the last preparation ahead of Zurich World Championships
Cycling
The World Championships take place in the space of a month in Zurich, Switzerland, and all the contenders are busy planning out their training and racing schedules ahead of the race. Mathieu van der Poel for one has confirmed what will be his final race before it: The Tour de Luxembourg.
“I am happy to announce that I will participate in the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg this year," van der Poel said in a video shared by the race. "We’re excited to announce that @mathieuvdpoel will take part on this years Škoda Tour.
Don’t miss your chance to witness greatness up close - come and cheer him on!"
This will without a doubt be the headliner of the race. Van der Poel will this Wednesday start the Renewi Tour before the European Championships and then, after some more training, will race the Tour de Luxembourg from the 18th to 22nd of September. It is a race that frequently features quite a lot of hilly and explosive stages, which is exactly what the reigning World Champion will be looking for.
Last year the race was won by Marc Hirschi ahead of Brandon McNulty and Ben Healy, whilst previous winners were Mattias Skjelmose and João Almeida. It is a race that has a high-quality field every year and next month van der Poel is expected to face the likes of Hirschi himself and also Deutschland Tour winner Mads Pedersen.
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- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
- He just doesn't have the desire anymore. I read an article earlier today that said he almost retired last year. His reasoning was he is away from home to much. Visma was able to keep him riding by allowing him to skip certain camps. So, while currently Visma is doing altitude work...Jonas is at home. Which means 2 things. 1- He maybe fresher than other riders. But, not the condition. 2-Is a somewhat slap in the face to others on the team that are supposed to help him win. Yet feel like he hasn't done what they have so perhaps they don't provide as good of protection or they ride more for theme (which the team may not notice).md197514-11-2026
- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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Big announcement 📣 We’re excited to announce that @mathieuvdpoel will take part on this years Škoda Tour. Don’t miss your chance to witness greatness up close - come and cheer him on! #SkodaTour #WorldChampion
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