"In cyclocross I don't have much left to win" - Sixth world title for Mathieu van der Poel as he dominates Tabor Worlds
Cyclocross
Mathieu van der Poel's first world title in cyclocross at Elite level was in Tabor, and this Sunday the Dutchman has conquered his sixth rainbow jersey in the same circuit. It was a dominant victory in traditional style, where the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider took himself one step closer to making history.
“I was able to remain fairly calm. That works because I have already been through a lot. That was different when I was at the start of my first World Championship with the elite in Tábor," van der Poel shared with Wielerflits following his victory. "Of course, the cross still has to be ridden. The top favorite does not always win, as we have seen in the past. It is a course where you can expect a lot, so I was happy to be at the finish.”
The pressure was fully on van der Poel's shoulders at the start, unanimously talked of as the man to beat this afternoon. However he did not take long to show why he had that status. In the opening lap of the Czech circuit he hit the front, and he took advantage of the brutal conditions to make the difference straight away.
“I had good legs and rode very controlled. I never really took risks and tried to keep everything intact," he tells. Niels Vandeputte initially kept up with the pace, but eventually cracked. Joris Nieuwenhuis was the closest chaser, but was never able to get himself in the wheel or close the gap to van der Poel. "In many places you could see some stones being wheeled up. I took those passages calmly and continued where I could.”
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What followed was a victory in a way that he's shown on several occasions this winter. An attack on lap 1 was enough to have him win his sixth rainbow jersey. He is only one title away from Erik de Vlaeminck's seven. However after some talks of not being worried about missing a cyclocross season, there is no certainty that this will happen. “I'm not going to decide that alone, but we're going to talk about it."
"The cross is something that takes a lot of energy, everything that comes with it. My focus is shifting more and more to the road and in cyclocross I don't have much left to win, except the world title and fun. If it turns out that I can get even better by skipping the field, I will do that," he concludes. Van der Poel thus ends his season today in the discipline, most likely his new jersey's debut will come next fall.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Men Elite 🏆 at the 2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Tábor: 🥇 Mathieu van der Poel (NED) 🥈 Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED) 🥉 Michael Vanthourenhout (BEL) #Tabor2024
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