Van der Poel (with a stuffy nose) happy his team ignores criticism of him: "If they took that away from me..."

Mathieu van der Poel has set his goals for 2025, which include a return to the Classics, mountain biking, and the Tour de France. This year, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider heads to the Tour with the goal of winning a stage. "The Mur de Bretagne is once again a finish in the first week. That’s where I won my first Tour stage, and I’d love to do it again," Van der Poel told IDLProCycling.com and other gathered media.

Van der Poel had just returned from a ski trip when he we speak to him. "My nose is a bit blocked, but nothing to worry about," he said. That immediately raised the question of whether skiing is too risky for someone so crucial to his team. "I think off-piste skiing is a lot less dangerous than riding in the peloton towards the Oude Kwaremont," Van der Poel laughed. "It’s all about how you look at it. I’ve been skiing my whole life, so to me, it doesn’t feel like a risk. If they took that away from me, it wouldn’t be good for my performance. So I’m glad I have that freedom. That said, I am a little more cautious than I used to be."

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Mathieu van der Poel just after the finish in the Tour of Flanders

Becoming the sole record holder in the Tour of Flanders? "I’m just trying to win the race"

Moving on to his schedule, Van der Poel appears to be following a similar program to previous years, except for his season opener. "I’ll start with Tirreno-Adriatico. I’ve done that before, like two years ago, and I think it’s the best preparation for Milan-San Remo. Last year, San Remo was my first race of the season, and I felt like I was still missing something. For me, it’s better to start with a one-week stage race to fine-tune my form," he explains.

After Milan-San Remo, he will shift focus to the cobbled classics. "My schedule will be more or less the same as every year—the Classics and semi-Classics, with my main goals once again being the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Which semi-Classics I’ll race is still up for discussion—whether I do Dwars door Vlaanderen or Gent-Wevelgem, for example. But Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix are already locked in."

In the Tour of Flanders, Van der Poel could become the sole record holder with a fourth victory. "But honestly, I don’t really think about that. It’s the same as when I broke the Cyclo-cross World Championship record earlier. I’m just trying to win the race," he says.

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Mathieu van der Poel won Roubaix dominantly in 2024

Not thinking too much about Pogacar: "Other scenarios are also possible, so I'm focusing on myself"

Recent social media clips showed Tadej Pogacar training on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. What does Van der Poel think about that? Could Pogacar be a serious rival in Roubaix, as he already will be in teh Tour of Flanders? "I don’t really have any thoughts about it," he admits. "I don’t know what his plans are, but if he does race Paris-Roubaix, then of course, he’s a strong competitor. I think he’s excited to race it, but it’s not something I’m really thinking about yet."

Anyway, Van der Poel’s biggest rival for the classics is clear: Pogacar. "With Pogacar returning to the Tour of Flanders, it’s definitely going to be a tough race," Van der Poel says. "But it’s not impossible to beat him. I’ve beaten him before, but that was a few years ago. Two years ago, he dropped me on the Oude Kwaremont in the Tour of Flanders. I had good legs that day, so this time, I’ll have to be at 110 percent to finally beat him."

However, he knows that’s just one possible scenario. "I mainly focus on myself—on being as strong as possible. Trying to put him in trouble with the team will be difficult because his team is very strong. Two years ago, UAE Team Emirates – XRG pushed the pace twice heading into the Oude Kwaremont, and by the time we got there, the entire peloton was already at its limit. I feel like Pogacar has only gotten stronger since then. A lot of people forget that the new Tour of Flanders route has even more climbing than the old one. That’s why Pogacar thrives there. He’s hard to beat, but we’ll try."

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Last time the Mur de Bretagne was in the Tour de France, Van der Poel took the yellow jersey

Tour stage with finish where he honored Poulidor with stage win and yellow jersey

It has been a while, but Van der Poel is heading to the Tour de France later this year with clear personal ambitions. Stage seven finishes at the Mur de Bretagne, the same place where he won, took the yellow jersey, and honored his grandfather Poulidor. "There will be opportunities in the first week of the Tour," he says. "The Tour is returning to Mur de Bretagne, where I have already won before and taken the yellow jersey. I hope to win my second Tour stage there. And in the first stage, Jasper has a chance to win both the stage and the yellow jersey," he adds.

The question of whether or not he is a fan of the Tour also comes up. After all, he has spent the past few years at the Tour de France mainly as Philipsen’s lead-out man. "I have great memories from my first Tour," he says. "It’s not that I don’t like the Tour, but there are other races I enjoy more. That’s normal—every rider has their favorite races. But I’m still very motivated to win another stage in the Tour."

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The call of mountain biking is too strong to ignore

Mountain biking is a major goal due to Rwanda’s World Championship course

Even after the Tour, Van der Poel has another big goal to look forward to this year—not on the road, but off-road. "The Mountain Bike World Championships are a major goal for me," he says. "Winning that would be really cool, and in a way, it would fill one of the last gaps in my palmarès. This year is perfect for mountain biking and for skipping the Road World Championships, because Rwanda’s course is too demanding with its many climbs."

Whether Van der Poel will start mountain biking immediately after the Classics is still uncertain. "If it’s possible, I want to do it, but my focus will only shift to mountain biking after the Tour. And in the long run, it would be great to compete in the 2028 Olympic mountain bike race, but that’s still a long way off," he says.

Read also

Philipsen and the constant Van der Poel dilemma, yellow card fears, and now also Pogacar in his playing field

Lidl-Trek's spring squad even stronger, making decisions tougher: "But Pogacar will aim to repeat Van der Poel’s trick"

Little understanding for Van Aert’s race program choice: "I think you should always do San Remo, Flanders, and Roubaix"

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