Mathieu van der Poel aims for another rainbow jersey, but only one - No XCC, only XCO goal this weekend
Mountain BikeThursday, 27 August 2026 at 03:00
Mathieu van der Poel recently finished second at the Les Gets XCO World Cup race, and he will be fighting for the rainbow jersey next Sunday in Val di Sole. But the Dutchman will not compete in the Short Track event.
Van der Poel shows great form at Les Gets
Van der Poel has raced a cyclocross winter that led him to win a record-beating eighth world title, and during the spring he put his full focus on the road classics. Although he was not able to win a monument this year, he was a permanent fixture during the key events.
In the summer, the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider could enjoy a successful spell at the Tour de France, winning one stage and leading out Jasper Philipsen to one of his own as well. Van der Poel, who is set to retire in the upcoming years, has the goal of adding the XCO rainbow jersey to his palmarès.
A former road and gravel world champion, van der Poel only has one major title left to conquer. This year will see another attempt.
This past weekend at Les Gets, he was 10th at the short track event - where he had to start from one of the lower rows - and then used his top placement to race into second place behind Adrien Boichis at the XCO event, which is just over an hour in length.
His form has been confirmed, but there is more to it than meets the eye. At the World Championships, the first four rows of the XCO event are exclusively reserved to the Top32 of the mountain biking world rankings.
Mathieu van der Poel was second at the recent Les Gets XCO race
Read also
No van der Poel at short track World Championships
A strong result in the short track event wouldn't influence van der Poel's starting position on Sunday, whilst his chances of winning such a short event with a bad starting position are near-impossible.
Hence, he will not take part in it, according to Wielerflits. Instead, his full focus will be put on the XCO race, his big goal of the latter part of the 2026 season.
Van der Poel has stated his goal of winning the race already before, frequently, whilst the 2028 Olympic Games could be the last large goal of his career.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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