Mathieu van der Poel can end cycling career at USA's Olympic Games: "It would be great to try to finish in LA on the mountain bike"

Mathieu van der Poel, already a six-time cyclocross world champion, has a chance to claim his seventh title this season. In addition to his dominance in cyclocross, Van der Poel has proven his versatility by winning the road world championship and the gravel world championship earlier this year. However, there remains one glaring omission from his rainbow jersey collection: the mountain biking world title.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck superstar has made no secret of his ambition to prioritise mountain biking this year. “If I could choose, I would like to become world champion mountain biker this year. I haven't succeeded yet and it keeps playing in the back of my mind," Van der Poel admitted to Sporza.

In addition to the world title, an Olympic gold medal in mountain biking also eludes him, a goal he hopes to achieve before retiring from the sport. Reflecting on his Olympic ambitions, Van der Poel said, "I have one more chance for that: Los Angeles 2028."

“LA will almost certainly be the last Games I participate in,” calculated Van der Poel, who will be 33 by then. “It would be great to try to finish in LA on the mountain bike.”

If Van der Poel was able to achieve yet another world title in another category, he would move even further to status as the greatest all round rider on two wheels. The question is, could 2025 be the Dutchman’s year for mountain biking?