"I think that his program will be more extensive" - Paul Herygers predicts busier winter than expected for Mathieu van der Poel

The long-standing question of when and where world champion Mathieu van der Poel will begin his cyclocross season this winter is soon to be answered. Although some are expecting a quieter than usual campaign, expert Paul Herygers believes Van der Poel could be more active than first thought.

In a recent interview, Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Christoph Roodhooft gave the intriguing answer of "Let's say next week," when asked about when the cyclocross schedule of Van der Poel would be revealed. Although that news has still yet to be confirmed as of the time of writing, as mentioned, cyclocross expert Paul Herygers foresees more on Van der Poel's programme than initially expected. 

"Most people think that Van der Poel will only ride a few races. But Roodhooft said about that: "That's new to me." So I think that his program will be more extensive. Exciting, huh!" Herygers says in his analysis for Sporza, even making a prediction as to just how many races Van der Poel will partake in. "I think Van der Poel will probably ride a cross of 8 instead of 3."

In the absence of the likes of Van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock, Eli Iserbyt took the first World Cup victory of the season on the weekend, leaving Herygers impressed in the process. "Laurens Sweeck couldn't match Iserbyt yesterday. The sand (Sweeck's specialty) wasn't there to the extent that it was decisive. The non-sand sections were Iserbyt-tinged and Sweeck felt that too," he reviews of Iserbyt's 3rd victory of the season. "One more victory and then you'll suddenly be the king of victories. That's how quickly things can go when you have a weekend like Iserbyt in which you win 2 victories."