"I did regret not being there" - Mathieu van der Poel still holds Olympic mountain bike dreams after missing thrilling edition in Paris

The men's mountain bike at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games was nearly two hours of absolutely thrilling racing as Tom Pidcock retained his gold medal in the most dramatic of circumstances ahead of France's Victor Koretzky.

One man missing from the start line however, was Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman had initially planned to compete, similarly to Pidcock, both on the road and on the mountain bike. In the end though, it's just the road race for Van der Poel at this Olympic Games. “I would have liked to ride there," he admits with regret in quotes collected by Wielerflits. “If I really had a choice, I would probably have chosen mountain biking. However, that was a bit difficult this year due to the circumstances... I did regret not being there.”

So sure was Van der Poel initially of his participation in the mountain bike at this Olympics, he actually was part of the test event held in 2023. "So I know that course," he explains. "The race was quite closed at the beginning, which could have been an advantage for me. Although you never know until you are there yourself of course. But, I would have really liked to participate in this mountain bike race.”

Although he will 33 years old by the time the next Olympic Games rolls around, Van der Poel isn't completely ruling out a mountain bike return in order to compete for gold in Los Angeles, America in 2028. "I haven’t ridden my mountain bike since the Olympic test event last year. So hopefully I'll ride a bit more in the future,” be explains. "If the road course in Los Angeles is very difficult, then it is a slightly easier choice. Then we can perhaps focus on mountain biking a bit earlier. In four years I will probably be nearing the end of my career, I think. Then I think it would be a nice goal to compete on the mountain bike at the Olympic Games.”