"Stay on the bike for once" - Mathieu van der Poel returns to MTB racing this weekend and hopes to build on World Championships target

With the road World Championships in Rwanda being overly difficult for anyone who is not a climber, Mathieu van der Poel decided to pass on the opportunity and instead dedicate himself to hunting down his first XCO World title in Mountain Biking. The big day is already within two weeks, and today at Les Gets the reigning cyclocross and gravel World Champion looks to take confidence and perhaps a strong result in his return to the discipline.

"I spent some time on the course and the mountain bike to get the feeling back a bit, but it's always great to be back," van der Poel said in a post shared by Alpecin-Deceuninck. "I think it was 2019 when I was last here, so it's been a long time, but I always enjoy racing in France. The crowds here are always fantastic, and it's a course I really like. I'm looking forward to it."

Since 2021, van der Poel has rarely raced MTB but only managed to finish one race, the test event for the Paris Olympics, where he failed to get a meaningful result. He's had a string of DNF's due to crashes, showcasing his lack of time spent on the bike. He's put in a bit more work this time around and Les Gets will be an important challenge.

"My biggest goal this weekend is to stay on the bike for once. The most important thing is to try to finish the race and get a full race under my belt. Hopefully, that will help for the World Championships in two weeks. I know I'm not at the level I need to be in two weeks, but that's okay. I'm just trying to get a good feeling so I can go home with positive thoughts".

On the 14th of September van der Poel will race for the rainbow stripes, with the absence of Tom Pidcock who is at the Vuelta a España. "After this week, I'll go home for a few days and then I'll head to Crans-Montana quite early to have more time to adapt. The altitude there is even higher than here, and I need some time to adapt. And I can also scout the course a few times to feel comfortable there. That's the main goal when I'm there".

"Otherwise, I just have to try to stay healthy and put in some small efforts. Hopefully, after the Renewi Tour and a good week of training, I can start at the World Championships in my best form," he concluded.