Men Elite 🏆 at the 2024 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Tábor: 🥇 Mathieu van der Poel (NED) 🥈 Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED) 🥉 Michael Vanthourenhout (BEL) #Tabor2024
"In cyclocross I don't have much left to win" - Sixth world title for Mathieu van der Poel as he dominates Tabor Worlds
CyclocrossMonday, 05 February 2024 at 00:15
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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