Is Mathieu van der Poel skipping cyclocross season? "I am going on holiday first, then we will see"

Mathieu van der Poel is a six-time cyclocross World Champion and currently the reigning champion. He has not actually debuted his new jersey after winning the race in Tabor last February, but actually there is still no decision on whether he will even compete in the discipline this winter.

In the 2021-2022 season van der Poel came into the CX season late and suffering from a back injury, which saw him only race two events and take a month-long break in January that almost wrecked his spring. In both 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 he rode a reduced CX calendar, focused on building up to the World Championships, winning both times and closing out his season there. It has looked like the ideal plan for the winter, and the one he is likely to replicate this year.

However that certainly is not certain, and talking to Wielerflits after the Gravel World Championships, he was clear that he has not really given it much thought until now: "Will I ride cyclocross? Maybe. If I knew, I would tell you. We still have to decide whether or not I will ride cyclocross this winter. I am going on holiday first, then we will see."

Van der Poel finished his season with great form, finishing third in a hilly road race Worlds route in Zurich, and taking a new rainbow jersey in Leuven on the gravel discipline. Most likely now he will take some weeks off the bike before beginning to build towards the next season. It remains likely that cyclocross will be in his plans taking into consideration his quality and the flawless record over the World Championships and then spring classics over the past two seasons... But he has simultaneously said that next year he will likely put more focus into mountain biking and is unlikely to race the road World Championships in Kigali.

However for the time being, we still have the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider in a relaxed mood, after he has just conquered the big title for the first time in his career: “How long has it been since I had a French fries? It’s been a long time, but now I won’t wait long to eat one," he joked.