"Combination is possible": Mathieu van der Poel will be able to ride both road race and MTB at the 2028 Olympics
Mountain Bike
Mathieu van der Poel has already become world champion in cyclocross, gravel and on the road. However the elusive mountain bike rainbow stripes have slipped through the Dutch phenomenon's fingers multiple times, and the same goes for a big Olympic medal. In Tokyo 2021, Van der Poel crashed in training and later abandoned the race. Three years later in Paris, he didn't participate at all. His next big opportunity will come in Los Angeles in 2028.
We already know the Olympic Games in 2028 will take place in the second half of July, most likely colliding with Tour de France which is likely to be pushed a week earlier in the calendar again for this reason. Now the big question was whether Van der Poel will be forced to make decision between road cycling and mountain bikes in United States.
And the same applies for his compatriot Puck Pieterse who will be among the hot favourites to take one of the medals in Olympic cross-country.
"There are five days between the mountain biking and the road races,"
KNWU technical director Wilbert Broekhuizen notes in an interview with NOS. "So a combination is possible for Puck and Mathieu, that's how we're looking at it. And for Lorena, a combination of the road race and the track is possible."
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Several steps ahead
The next Summer Olympics are still three years away, but the KNWU (Royal Dutch Cycling Union) is already preparing for the global event. "We want to be the best-prepared country in the world," says Broekhuizen.
"The journey there takes eleven hours, and there's a nine-hour time difference. That's quite a distance. As an athlete, you want to be there on time."
The delegation has already identified a base where the Dutch athletes can acclimatize once they arrive in Los Angeles. "We've found a location an hour and a half's drive south of Los Angeles. Typically, you're only allowed into the Olympic Village five days before your competition, so this location gives us more opportunities to allow athletes to prepare earlier and more thoroughly."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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