“I felt myself improving every lap” – Van der Poel builds confidence on MTB return

What a season 2025 has been for Mathieu van der Poel, and now his focus has shifted to mountain biking as the final stretch of the calendar approaches. The 30-year-old Dutchman returned to the discipline at the Les Gets World Cup, where he delivered an impressive sixth place after starting way back in 33rd position. Just one minute separated him from winner Luca Martin, a result that showed how quickly he has readapted to racing off-road. This strong ride comes after a year in which he has already claimed two Monuments and a Tour de France stage, adding to his already remarkable palmarès.

The Dutchman, who is also a seven-time cyclocross world champion, as well as a one-time world champion in both road racing and gravel, is now aiming to add a mountain bike rainbow jersey to his collection next month in Crans-Montana.

From there, Van der Poel steadily worked his way forward, overtaking rider after rider on the long climbs. On the second lap he posted the fastest time of the race and by lap five had joined the front group. Starting the last lap in fourth, he was eventually overtaken by Alan Hatherley and Simone Avondetto, crossing the line sixth.

Even if not at his absolute best, Van der Poel took encouragement from the ride. “I'm happy with my race. I felt myself improving every lap, but in the final stages I lacked the punch and acceleration in my legs to compete for the win. I would have settled for this result beforehand, but in retrospect, I might have been able to achieve even more if I had been a bit more aggressive in the first laps,” he said, before looking ahead to his world title attempt. “The start will be crucial there as well.”