Van der Poel Confesses that alongside the thrill of the World Championships, he has a special cyclo-cross record in mind

Mathieu van der Poel is almost ready for his short cyclo-cross season. The leading man from Alpecin-Deceuninck, in an interview with Sporza, shares that he is in good shape, having not yet done too many cyclo-cross trainings, but with the Cyclo-cross World Championships in mind, he is aiming for peak form. He also discusses the pressure on cyclo-cross racers from the UCI.

Van der Poel, speaking with a sun-tanned face from sunny Spain, has been laying a good foundation for 2024. "My form on the road is good, but that's not always an indicator for cyclo-cross. The foundation is there," he says. His best form needs to be ready by the World Championships in Tabor, the first weekend of February. "I must be at my best for the World Championships, whether Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock participate or not. I need to be one hundred percent. The record of seven world titles held by Eric De Vlaeminck is one of the reasons why I continue cyclo-cross. Aside from that, I don’t have many goals in cyclo-cross. That record is a big challenge, but becoming world champion is too."

These are the same sentiments he expressed a while ago when he told French media that he might not continue cyclo-cross for the rest of his career. "I still enjoy it, but it has to continue to be beneficial," he says now. "If the team thinks I can reach a better level without cyclo-cross, then it's something to consider. A quiet winter in Spain might be nice. But I had my best road season after a cyclo-cross winter, so that's why I still do it. I don’t believe it has a negative effect, certainly not for me. I can always use competition, even though it does consume energy."

Van der Poel calls World Championships threat nonsense, but not the cyclo-cross calendar

The scheduling puzzles faced by Van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Tom Pidcock have already caused headaches for the UCI. With Van Aert and Pidcock not participating in the World Championships, there was even a suggestion to organize them earlier in future years. "I don't think the calendar should be adjusted for us. Cyclo-cross is a separate discipline. We should adapt to the calendar if we want to race, not the other way around," responds Van der Poel. He disagrees, however, with UCI president David Lappartient's threat to exclude riders from the World Championships who intentionally skip the Cyclo-cross World Cup. "Everyone should be allowed to race in the World Championships, even if you race zero cyclo-cross races. That’s your right. You don't need to race cyclo-cross to do that. I understand it's not great for them, but they've kind of brought it on themselves. I'm not really worried about it."