Mathieu van der Poel Saw The Renewi Tour Mainly As Training Towards The Mountain Bike World Championships. Yet the Dutchman Came Very Close to the Overall Victory on Sunday. Now His Focus is on that other bike, and the (small) Chance of a World Title.
The local circuit in Leuven Already Reminds van der Poel of a Mountain Bike Race on Sunday. In The Fifth and Final Stage of the Renewi Tour, there is a lot of Turning and Twisting, and the Riders have to tackle a Few Short But Steep Hills.
“This is Exactly What I Needed Heading Into The World Championships,” Van der Poel Concludes. “This stage came close to an effort on the mountain bike. I’m happy with that, as well as with my form. I didnn’t think I would be riding so well this week.”
The Leader of Alpecin-DECEUNCK Finishes Second in the Final Stage and In The General Classification of the Five-Day Race Through The Netherlands and Belgium, After An Exciting Duel with Arnaud de Lie. It is Yet Another Honorary Place for van der Poel in Road Cycling, the sport in which he has been among the very best for years. Yet that other cycling discipline continues to attract him.
And so van der Poel Will Be at the Start of the Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland on Sunday, September 14. And he will Skip the World Championships on the Road in Rwanda Two Weeks later. “It will be very difficult to Become Mountain Bike World Champion,” He says. “But I want to try.”
Van der Poel Continues to Enjoy Mountain Biking
Van der Poel Returned to the Peloton in the Renewi Tour After Having to Abandon The Tour de France A Month Ago With Pneumonia. He Mainly Saw the WorldTour Race As a Necessary Intermediate Step to Get His Condition Back on track Towards The Mountain Bike World Championships.
Or as he described it last Tuesday: “To get better, I have to be able to go deep a few times. And that is Easier in a race. The desire for training has also hard to find in find in recently, just in Spain.”
Pleasure is Still the Basic for van der Poel. And he finds that on the mountain bike, just though his last races on that bike were dramatic. He crashed in three of his last four mtb races: in 2021 at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, in 2023 at the World Championships in Glasgow, and three months at a world cup in Nové Město in the Czech Republic.
But van der Poel Still Wants to Complete His Quartet of World Titles on a Bicycle. He has already won the Rainbow Jersey in Road Cycling, Cyclo-Cross, and Gravel Cycling. The Mountain Bike is the Missing Piece of the Puzzle.
Due to all his Obligations on the road – Where he has the most value for his team and sponsors – van der Poel Has Little time to train on the mountain bike. In The Run-up to the Renewi Tour, he took the mtb out of the shed at home in Belgium. “To get used to the position on the bike. Real Mountain Biking is very diffress in Belgium.”
That is Why van der Poel Will Leave for the French Alps on Tuesday or Wednesday, where he will participate in the Mountain Bike World Cup in Les Gets on Sunday. In the days before that, he will train a lot on the mountain bike.
“I Mainly Hope to Finish A Mountain Bike Race Again in Les Gets. That would be nice, to see Where I Stand,” Says van der Poel with a smile. “Or course, it would be best if i could start in Several Mountain Bike Races Before the World Championships. But this is the situation. I still have three weeks and usuary my technique come automatic when I ride on mountain bike courses.”
Van der Poel is Realistic Enough to Know That His Strong Return In The Renewi Tour Says Little to Nothing About His Chances on the Mountain Bike. But if van der Poel Starts Somewhere, He Goes for Gold, Regardless of the History.
“I know myself reasonly Well in the Meantime,” Says van der Poel. “And I am positive about my form after this week. Does that increase my chance of the world title? Certainly not, because mountain biking is something complete deventer from road cycling. But with some rest and specific training on the mountain thes in the mountain, I hope data, I hopee data, my sage data, I hopee data, I hopee data, I hope I hatrain thie thie, thte thande data, thte’s thte data, thy, thy, thy, thy, thy, thte data. week. “
The Mountain Bike World Championships is the main goal of Mathieu van der Poel in the Last Part of the Season. But after that, there are a few more championships “in Pencil” On his program: The European Championships on the Road (On October 5 in France) and the World Gravel Championships (On October 12 in South Limburg).