Podium @UCIcyclocrossWC Zonhoven with winner @mathieuvdpoel. 10th victory this winter. Next one for Mathieu: Benidorm. 📸 @photopressbe #alpecindeceuninck
Adrie van der Poel confident that Mathieu van der Poel already has form to win cyclocross World Championships: "He doesn't need to get better for me. Not getting sick is much more important than the rest"
CyclocrossMonday, 08 January 2024 at 14:00
Mathieu van der Poel is at '98%', according to his father Adrie van der Poel. He now sets off to a training camp in Spain to do the final preparation ahead of the cyclocross World Championships before returning to Belgium later in the month of January.
"What he is doing at the moment is special. Of course there are always points where he thinks: that could be better. He has always been someone who is critical of himself," Adrie van der Poel shared with Wielerflits. “Whether this is the best Mathieu ever remains to be seen. I hope he still shows great things, but I must say: it has been a problem-free winter. I think that contributes a lot to his success. The other years there was always something going on. So nothing big, but something. I think that problem-free winter has an influence on what he is doing now."
The move to Spain and lack of health issues was the key to van der Poel's season off-road, which is so far unbeatable. Yesterday in Zonhoven he took another convincing triumph in the sand. He will miss the national championships in the Netherlands. Adrie believes that the Dutchman already has the form to win the World Championships, and now it is a matter of maintaining it.
“If he continues to do what he has to do, then everything will be fine. From 80 to 95 percent is a lot easier than from 98 to 100. But I think the most important thing is to maintain the condition in the coming weeks. He doesn't need to get better for me. Not getting sick is much more important than the rest.”
Not only that, but he believes the World Champion - both on the road and cyclocross - has the capacity to replicate last year's success on the road if he is able to stay in the condition that he's at.
“I have no doubt that if there is no illness or strange falls, everything will be fine next spring," he concludes. “Whether or not they win is a completely different story. But if you just participate conditionally, and you sit with the men you should sit with, then it is already a success. The icing is one big victory.”
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