"The start was a dream scenario..." - Mathieu van der Poel fails but vows to continue chasing MTB rainbow jersey

Mathieu van der Poel is the reigning champion in cyclocross and gravel, and in 2023 he was crowned world champion on the road for the first time. One of the last remaining goals in the 30-year old's career is to conquer the rainbow jersey in Mountain Biking, but that will have to wait another year.

The chances were never going to be high that the Dutchman was going to be able to conquer it today, but they were not null. He returned to the discipline in May for the Nové Mesto World Cup but crashed out and suffered a wrist fracture, yet another setback on the mountain bike, which has riddled him for the past few years.

However in Les Gets only a few weeks ago, a similar race also taking place in the Alps, van der Poel rode to sixth, only 28 seconds behind Alan Hatherly who would go on to conquer the world title this Sunday.

And van der Poel had the same dream, starting it off very strongly and into the leading positions, but beginning to struggle quite a lot from the third lap of nine. "I wasn't having a good day. I haven't been feeling well for a while," van der Poel said after the race in words to NOS.

"The start was a dream scenario, but after that, it was a long race mentally. But mountain biking is the only discipline where it's still fun to ride around." Van der Poel couldn't handle the pace of those in front and eventually began losing minutes, eventually crossing the line in Crans-Montana in 29th place.

It's a position far from the front, but his first laps and race in Les Gets showcase that the Dutchman does have the power to fight for the world title in one of the years to come, and he confirms that he will continue trying. "My legs were really bad, but I still tried to enjoy it a bit. I still have a few years to go, we'll keep trying."