“The course is just a little too hard for me” - Mathieu van der Poel pours cold water on World Championships hopes despite winning return in Luxembourg
CyclingThursday, 17 September 2026 at 10:15
Mathieu van der Poel could hardly have made a stronger return to road racing before the World Championships. On his first race day back, the Dutchman attacked on the final climb of Stage 1 at the Tour de Luxembourg, was brought back and still had enough left to win the uphill sprint ahead of Pierre Gautherat and Marijn van den Berg.
With Tadej Pogacar absent from Montreal and several of the leading contenders already showing their form in Canada, Van der Poel’s immediate return to winning ways inevitably puts him firmly back into the World Championship conversation.
He is considerably less convinced. “I think the course is just a little too hard for me,” Van der Poel told NOS after his victory in Luxembourg. “You could see that on Sunday as well from the types of riders who were at the front.”
Remco Evenepoel, Paul Seixas and Isaac Del Toro were among those to impress during the recent Canadian races, while Wout van Aert has also arrived at the end of the Vuelta with three weeks of racing in his legs. Van der Poel has taken a very different route towards Montreal.
Van der Poel is a former road race world champion
“I was a little too enthusiastic”
His Tour de Luxembourg appearance is his first road race since the Tour de France, with much of the intervening period spent on the mountain bike before another training block in Spain.
There was little sign of rust on Wednesday. Van der Poel attacked with around 11 kilometres remaining on the final classified climb and quickly opened a gap. Eike Behrens eventually managed to bridge across, but the move was reeled back in during the final kilometres.
“I was a little too enthusiastic on that final climb,” Van der Poel admitted. “I mainly wanted to make sure it wasn’t too easy for the sprinters. But I suddenly found myself alone, although Eike Behrens was able to come across, and then there was no point carrying on all the way to the finish.”
Being caught did not end his challenge, however. Andrea Bagioli attacked inside the final kilometre, Van der Poel responded and the Alpecin-Premier Tech leader still had the power to come through for victory.
“I was able to go really deep on that climb,” he said. “And here at the finish I could go really deep again as well, so I’m quite satisfied.”
That was exactly the sort of hard racing Van der Poel had been looking for after his recent training block. “I can feel that I’ve trained hard over the past few days. But these are the efforts I still need.”
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Van der Poel leaves one route open in Montreal
The Dutchman’s reservations about the World Championships are centred on the severity of the Montreal course rather than his current condition.
The recent GP de Montreal offered a clear preview of the type of race the circuit can produce, with climbing strength heavily represented at the front. “It will definitely be on the hard side, but you never know in a championship,” Van der Poel said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to happen on that long climb either.”
He also pointed towards the particular dynamics of a World Championship as one possible source of opportunity. “A World Championship can sometimes become an atypical race. You’re racing with national teams, there’s no radio communication... So it’s not like other races, which are easier to predict.”
Even then, Van der Poel was unwilling to turn Wednesday’s victory into a declaration of intent for Montreal. “But still, I think the chances are small.”
For now, he has four more stages in Luxembourg to add the race intensity he believes is still missing. Ten days out from the World Championships, his first test has already ended with a victory and the race leader’s jersey.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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