Mathieu van der Poel targets dual World Championship bid - Dutch star reportedly sets sights on Mountain Bike gold before heading to Canada for Road Worlds

Mathieu van der Poel is already looking beyond the Tour de France as he prepares for a busy second half of the season. The Dutch star is expected to target the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships before shifting his attention to the Road World Championships in Canada, with several key races included in his schedule as part of his build-up.

According to sources cited by WielerFlits, Van der Poel will not participate in any post-Tour criteriums, choosing instead to concentrate on his preparations for the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy, at the end of August.

The Italian venue is known for its demanding climbing circuit, a style of course that has not traditionally suited the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider as much as more technical layouts. Nevertheless, Van der Poel has enjoyed success there before, winning a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup race in Val di Sole back in 2019. The World Championship course is expected to be very similar to that World Cup circuit.

One week before the world championships, Van der Poel is also expected to compete at the World Cup round in Les Gets, France. Thanks to updated UCI regulations, he can enter both the short track race on Friday and the cross-country event on Sunday.

Although he holds no mountain bike ranking points, his UCI ranking will allow him to start from the fourth row at both Les Gets and the World Championships instead of the back of the grid, giving him a much stronger starting position.

Van der Poel's mountain bike ambitions mean he is unlikely to ride the Renewi Tour, which overlaps with the World Cup weekend in Les Gets. Instead, his return to road racing could come at the GP de Québec, a race he has never contested before despite the circuit appearing well suited to his explosive riding style.

That would likely be followed by the GP de Montréal two days later, offering an ideal opportunity to familiarize himself with the course that will host the UCI Road World Championships just two weeks later.

The organizers of the Canadian races were present during the Tour de France to discuss participation with several riders, although Alpecin-Deceuninck is not expected to make a final decision on Van der Poel's autumn schedule for another few weeks.

His plans beyond the Road World Championships also remain uncertain. It is not yet known whether he will end his road campaign immediately afterward, while his cyclocross winter is also still undecided.

Van der Poel has repeatedly suggested in recent years that he could skip an entire cyclocross season in an attempt to improve his chances of challenging Tadej Pogacar during the spring Classics. Another factor is his personal life, with partner Roxanne Bertels expecting the couple's first child in January 2027, around the same period as the Cyclocross World Championships in Ostend.