"We are thinking about how we can close the gap on Tadej Pogacar" - Mathieu van der Poel excited to challenge himself in 2025
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel enjoyed a very successful season on the road in 2024, adding two more Monument victories to his palmares among other successes. In truth though, the performances of the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader were somewhat overshadowed by the brilliance of Tadej Pogacar when looking at the season as a whole.
"Winning the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the rainbow jersey may well have been the highlight of my career. That is something quite unique," Van der Poel looks back with pride in conversation with Sporza. As mentioned though, Van der Poel's status as world leader and Rainbow Jersey wearer was taken over in 2024 by a rampant Pogacar, who rode one of the greatest individual seasons in cycling history.
As such, the challenge for Van der Poel in 2025 is to get on a level where he can be competitive against Pogacar in the races where they will be rivals. "It will be difficult to beat him, but it is a challenge that I am happy to accept," he previews combatively. "We are thinking about how we can close the gap on Pogacar. Because that will be necessary to beat him in the Tour de Flanders."
"Perhaps that can be done by slightly different and more difficult training," he continues, noting how his attention and focus is already partially on the coming Spring Classics campaign. "That is why I am skipping the World Cup cross in Benidorm, for example, because a training camp in that same period will make me better towards the spring."
The main thing Van der Poel has in sights heading towards 2025 though, is to adopt a more positive mindset. "I am really annoyed by the narrow-mindedness of people. Not only in sports, but also in other areas. I think that so little is allowed these days and I have a hard time with that. People don't grant each other that much anymore. That's a shame," he concludes. "Hopefully we can all be a little more positive this year."
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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