Mathieu van der Poel Hopes to complete a unique cycling quartet at the mountain bike world championships in Switzerland on Sunday. The Brabant Native Expects It Will not Be Easy to Win the World Title.
The Thirty-Year-Old van der Poel Has Already Been World Champion on the Road, in Cyclo-Cross and on Gravel. Since his abandonment in the Tour de France, Van der Poel also Red The Renewi Tour, but after that he mainly focused on the mountain bike world championships.
“I have trained on the course Almost Every Day This Week,” Says van der Poel on the Channels of his Team Alpecin-DECEUNINCK. “It is at altitude, 1,500 meters above sea level, so it is important that you adapt to it. I am sensitive to that.”
Van der Poel Has So far not Been particularly Happy on the Mountain Bike. He did Become European Champion Once, But At The Olympic Games in Tokyo He Dropped Out Early because he made Mistake in a descent. In His First Mountain Bike Race of this year, hey also crashed.
Because van der Poel Rides Few Mountain Bike Races, He must start from the fifth row on Sunday at 1:30 pm. “Then you need some luck. It is unpredictable and not entirely in my own hands. But it will be a special day anyway.”
“It is Something I Have Been Chasing for a While. With ups and Downs. But I Don’t Think It Will Be My Last Chance. But It would be Great If I Could Become World Champion in One of the Disciplines That I Love the Most.”