"He's had enough of training": Alpecin boss excited to unleash Mathieu van der Poel in Namur
Cyclocross
Nothing wrong with getting in some quality training kilometers in the winter. But as far as Mathieu van der Poel is concerned, he'd much rather prefer to get covered in mud while fighting his cyclocross up-close, rather than only having watch them on his TV. You can tell that the Dutchman has already had enough sunbathing in Spain when we saw him nearly crash during one of his training sessions. But fortunately for Van der Poel, he won't have to endure too many boring hours in the saddle anymore as his cyclocross debut in 2025/26 season is planned for this Sunday already.
Initially, the Belgian team announced that Van der Poel would for sure open his winter account on December 20 at the Antwerpen World Cup. Meanwhile, the participation in the Namur World Cup a week earlier was left open for a later decision. Whilst the possibility that Van der Poel would opt for an early start before the Christmas string of racing, there was always the odd chance that his team would convince its star to spend another week on training camp with spring in mind.
Nevertheless, there is no need for doubts anymore: "Good news, confirmed. Mathieu van der Poel feels race-ready enough to kick off his cyclocross season next Sunday at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Namur," his team confirmed last Friday, announcing the cyclocross king's arrival to defend his throne already at the traditional World Cup venue.
A race he's already won five times in his career (2015-2016 & 2018-2020).
It's hard to keep Van der Poel without cyclo-cross...
But how's Van der Poel's preparation going, in the opinion of his Alpecin-Deceuninck team boss Christoph Roodhooft? "Mathieu is fine and has trained well. He hasn't ridden his cyclocross bike yet (at least until last week, ed.). That will probably be sometime next week. It's a buildup we've always been doing in recent years towards the World Championships," he explained to Sporza.
Roodhooft acknowledges that Van der Poel can no longer be satiated without the racing thrills. "I feel like he's had enough of training. He's ready to come to Belgium and compete."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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