Mathieu van der Poel: "We will probably need a few laps to find our cross technique again"

Mathieu van der Poel has his foot back in cyclocross today and argues that he will need to find some rhythm back into competition, and explains why he chose to start his season this week and not next week as initially planned.

“I was in Spain for a long time and came home on Wednesday anyway, so I thought it was a bit long to bridge. It is a cross near home and I also wanted to come and go cross. I think today is my fourth time or so, so very little compared to previous years," van der Poel told Wielerflits this morning. "But that's not something I lose sleep over. The condition is good, so it will come back little by little. After the cross I will be able to tell you more about my cross form.”

Van der Poel and Pidcock headline the X2O Badkamers Trofee Herentals but the World Champion will truly be in the spotlight, greeted by many fans at the start, arriving in his own personal car to the track, and debuting his rainbow jersey. “Of course you follow that. I haven't looked at all the crosses, but I have watched a few. You kind of know who is doing well. Do I start here to win?"

"Winning would of course be nice. I think I should go for that too. As I said, we just have to see how the technology on the bike works. Tom is a bit the same as me. He has trained a lot on the road and has been on the road with the road team. We will probably need a few laps to find our cross technique again.”