Mathieu van der Poel will start the Cyclocross World Championships in Tabor on Sunday as the odds-on favourite to claim what would be his sixth Rainbow Jersey in the discipline. As you might expect however, the Dutchman refuses to talk up an easy win pre-race.
"It has often been shown in the past that the top favourite does not always win," the 29-year-old assesses warily in his pre-race interview. Van der Poel even has a very recent reference point to look at. “When you see Aubin Sparfel has a flat in the juniors... It can happen to anyone. If you get that at a bad time, it will take a long time to get to the station. I don't think I'm just going to win. It is and remains a mechanical sport.”
With the likes of Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock absent from Tabor, many feel the real battle is likely to be for second behind van der Poel. That does, in turn bring a lot of pressure onto van der Poel's shoulders though. "I don't really feel any pressure. I've been in this situation many times," he answers. "When I was at the start here in 2015, it was a completely different feeling.”
Having done some pre-race reconnaissance, van der Poel also sees challenges in the course itself. “The course is now extremely difficult,” he concludes. “It has dried up a bit in some parts, but that makes it even more difficult to ride on. It is a very tough cross.”
Track record 🇳🇱 Mathieu van der Poel in 🇨🇿 Tabor: 🥇 2011: World Cup (U19) 🥇 2012: World Cup (U19) 🥇 2013: World Cup (U23) 🥇 2015: World Championships (Elite) 🌈 🥇 2017: European Championships (Elite) 🇪🇺 🥇 2018: World Cup (Elite) 🥇 2019: World Cup (Elite) #Tabor2024
