"Maybe next year you see me here" - Mathieu van der Poel teases possible Vuelta a Espana debut

This past weekend, Mathieu van der Poel was in La Nucia to participate in the criterium that was also attended by Alejandro Valverde or Pablo Castrillo. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was the main protagonist in Alicante and was asked about a possible Vuelta a España debut, to which he had an interesting response.

One of them was told by the Dutchman to AS colleagues. According to Mathieu van der Poel, plans for the 2025 season can include competing in the Vuelta a España.

"Already for this last season we seriously considered it," van der Poel began when asked about his participation in La Vuelta. "But with all the other goals I had it was difficult for me, so maybe next year you see me here."

Mathieu van der Poel has never competed in the Vuelta a España. The former world champion (now the rainbow jersey belongs to Tadej Pogacar) has raced 4 times the Tour de France, namely the last editions in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and only once the Giro d'Italia, in 2022. He admitted this weekend that the Tour de France is definitely not a certainty next year as he's struggled to achieve results there and prefers to focus on the one-day races and perhaps take up mountain biking again.

But the Alpecin-Deceuninck star has never tackled the Spanish grand tour. One of the reasons the Dutchman wants to take part in La Vuelta may be because at the Tour de France his role is limited to being Jasper Philipsen's launcher for the sprints. In Spain, van der Poel could enjoy his own opportunities with more suiting stages and a more modest startlist - both when it comes to sprinters, classics specialists and breakaway opportunists.

Although the dream of the Vuelta a España is not confirmed, what Mathieu van der Poel was able to affirm is that in 2025 one of his main objectives will be to go for the 7th monument of his career. This is what he said when asked about the races he already knows he will participate in.

"The goal will be similar to previous years, because the results are going well like that. One of the big ones will be to try to add another monument to my palmarès," said the 3-time winner of the Tour of Flanders (2020, 2022 and 2024), 2 of Paris-Roubaix (2023 and 2024) and 1 of Milano-Sanremo (2023).