VIDEO - Mathieu van der Poel narrowly avoids hard crash in MTB return, finishes 10th in 'really painful' race
Mountain BikeSaturday, 22 August 2026 at 11:53
Mathieu van der Poel is a multi-talented rider on the bike. He is a former World Champion on the road and gravel; and a world title record holder in cyclocross - one that he achieved this winter. The only one missing from his palmarès is the MTB rainbow jersey, a goal he has begun building on this Friday in Les Gets.
Mathieu van der Poel 10th at Les Gets short track
This is not a new preparation for the Dutchman, who 12 months ago also participated in the Les Gets XCO event, finishing a strong sixth place; but couldn't back that up two weeks after in Crans-Montana where he barely broke through the Top30.
Whilst immensely talented, the Dutchman hasn't been able to replicate the efficiency of Tom Pidcock, a full-time road racer who has often smoothly transitioned to the mountain bike - with two Olympic titles to his name already. But the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider has made it clear that the Mountain BIke world title is a clear goal to add to his palmarès and this year is a good opportunity.
Hence, after a training block in the Alps, he has started off the Short Track event in Les Gets this Friday. Van der Poel finished 10th, moving up significantly during the 22-minute long race, and just making it into the Top10, 36 seconds behind winner Adrien Boichis - despite nearly crashing in a rock garden, as shown in the clip below.
“Man, it was… really painful. I expected it to be painful, but it hurt more than I’d have liked, haha,” he said in a post-race interview. The short effort, taking place in altitude and in a difficult course, put van der Poel - who had a start far from the front, due to his lack of participations in the MTB events - on the limit.
"Having to use up my energy so early on was tough. It was kind of the plan to move up to the middle of the pack as quickly as possible. Because, well, I knew that after the last rock garden, the course would just be one long, drawn-out stretch. I couldn’t really recover, so it was just a whole race of suffering.”
🇳🇱 Mathieu van der Poel finished 10th today in the Short Track race in 🇫🇷 Les Gets. And he could just avoid a crash. XCO race on Sunday. #MTBWorldCuppic.twitter.com/HHid4wp9mC
— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) August 21, 2026
Read also
Van der Poel looking to surprise in his XCO return
This Sunday, the Dutchman will begin the XCO event from the second row, having net himself a good result on the short track race - which was his goal. This will allow him not to go to the limit at the beginning of the race to recover positions, and provide a better opportunity to take a strong result.
Last year he finished one minute exactly off the winner Luca Martin, but hopes to take his first XCO win since Lenzerheide all the way back in 2019. “These are the kinds of efforts I need. Sunday will, of course, be a completely different story than today, but still… it was definitely a painful comeback," he concluded.
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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