Alpecin-Deceuninck and Mathieu van der Poel officially announced the star rider’s program during a media day on Wednesday. The newly crowned cyclo-cross world champion had already hinted at his plans during the winter season, but now they are set in stone. There are few surprises, with the major Monuments in the spring as the primary goal.
Van der Poel, coming off a flawless winter, is ambitiously looking ahead. He won all eight of his cyclo-cross races, including the World Championship in Liévin, France. It was his seventh world title, making him the joint record holder alongside Erik De Vlaeminck. His broken rib, sustained after crashing into a pole right after Christmas, didn’t hinder him much in cyclo-cross, so it shouldn’t pose any issues at all on the road.
That means the peloton should be wary of Van der Poel, who, in between cyclo-cross races, spent nearly his entire winter in Spain — coming back not only with tanned calves but also with excellent preparation. And as we saw in 2024, a well-prepared Van der Poel is capable of great things. Who could forget how he single-handedly helped Jasper Philipsen win Milan-San Remo? Or how he dominated by winning E3 Harelbeke, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix?
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Which Grand Tour will Mathieu van der Poel ride in 2025?
The big question marks in Van der Poel’s schedule never concern the spring classics. Those remain fairly consistent each year, and 2025 is no exception. This means Van der Poel will start his road season at Tirreno-Adriatico. From there, he will race Milan-San Remo, E3 Harelbeke, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix. "Do I want to be the first to win the Tour of Flanders four times? It’s kind of like with the cyclo-cross world championships. I focus more on the race itself than on records," said the 30-year-old rider. He will likely skip Gent-Wevelgem, while his participation in Dwars door Vlaanderen remains uncertain.
But which Grand Tour will Van der Poel race? In recent years, his post-spring schedule has varied quite a bit. In 2021, he combined the Tour de France (where he won a stage and wore the yellow jersey) with the Olympic mountain bike race. In 2022, he did the Giro d’Italia (winning a stage and wearing the pink jersey for a bit) followed by the Tour. In 2023, he completed his first full Tour de France, and in 2024, he rode it again, though in both editions, he never fully raced for himself due to physical setbacks.
In 2025, the Dutchman will 'simply' be back in the Tour de France. "There are opportunities for both me and Jasper Philipsen in the first week. Hopefully, I can win another stage," Van der Poel said.
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Van der Poel drops Rwanda World Championships, goes all in on Mountain Bike Worlds
That leaves the World Championships in the fall, which in 2025 will be held in Rwanda. The first-ever African World Championships are clearly suited for climbers, but Van der Poel already showed in 2024 that he is willing to shed some weight to compete on tough climbs. He finished third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and third in a very challenging Worlds edition in Zurich. Still, Van der Poel is putting the Rwanda Worlds out of his mind for now. "Rwanda is too tough, so it makes sense to focus fully on the Mountain Bike World Championships and check that off the list," the Dutchman stated.
His mountain biking ambitions were initially uncertain, as he has long been toying with the discipline ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he hopes to finally achieve his goal. That uncertainty is now gone — he is fully committed to mountain biking in 2025.
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Latest Comments
- Remco is still very young. And injuries can absolutely keep you from overdoing it and getting worse. The recent Remco accident didn't keep him from being able to ride a recumbent inside. Wout's knee is a different story thoughVeganpotter23-01-2025
- Van der Poel style is winning by a half a lap and leading the race from the end of the second lap.
Barnes127420-01-2025 - If she thinks talent alone will put her there she will not see many podium finishes much less a GC finish.....work as a team utilizing tactics to consistently be at the top.Germanrazor10-01-2025
- This was very informative! Luiz Antonio Duarte Ferreiraluizantonioduarteferreira02-01-2025
- Well explained, thanks for the clarity! Daniel DantasDanieldantas20-12-2024
- This is the kind of 'news' that belongs in a cheap tabloid. No matter how boring the offseason gets, nobody wants to read this.
santiagobenites19-12-2024 - I wish we could have seen him try. He'd absolutely get dropped before Pogi overtakes his domestiquesVeganpotter10-12-2024
- Talk is cheap! Next year barring crashes with a healthy team... all well be on track! Some need to talk to make a headline!mootman27-11-2024
- I do not see this event listed on HBO Max Sports Online? Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
MrYuck23-11-2024 - It seemed that he was focusing forward at the time of the crash, after seeing a quick video snippet. But one thing I think he should focus on more intently is breaking a bad habit he has, right now. And that is his constant looking over his shoulders. He does that so much, that I am very sure it is not good for him. Simply watch videos of the greats of CX and you will see very little of that constant looking over their shoulders. That is a behavior that betrays a bit of insecurity on his part. He shouldn't be so concerned, incessantly, about what is over his shoulder. He needn't worry they didn't all disappear. He neds to keep his focus more ahead of himself, and he needs to pay a bit more attention to himself, in a confident manner. It is very frustrating to watch, because it is apparent that he has a lot of potential, and is in much better shape thwan many of his competitors, but the mental game needs to be sharpened more, because that part of strategy plays a huge part in the final results
reemmo022-11-2024