Dutch national coach clears the way for Van der Poel’s Mountain Bike World Championship bid

Mathieu van der Poel has already achieved an impressive trilogy: he has become a world champion in cyclo-cross, gravel racing, and road cycling. This year, the Dutchman aims to claim a fourth world title — this time in mountain biking. How realistic is that goal? Sporza asked the Dutch national coach Gerben de Knegt.

Van der Poel will first complete a typical spring season before focusing on a summer without the Tour de France. "It’s a race I’m not particularly fond of," he replied honestly. The course is right up his alley, but he remains reluctant. "Aside from trying to win stages and wear the yellow jersey, there’s not much for me to gain in the Tour. I’d rather race five races where I’m in contention for the win than 20 stages where I’m only competing half the time," he said last week.

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Van der Poel during an earlier mountain bike race

Mountain bike World Championships continue to haunt Van der Poel

Whether or not he actually ends up skipping the Tour depends on the wishes of his team, but Van der Poel himself prefers to focus entirely on the mountain bike world title. "If I had to choose, I’d love to become world champion in mountain biking this year. It’s something I haven’t achieved yet, and it’s always in the back of my mind."

However, the situation isn’t straightforward for Van der Poel when it comes to mountain biking. His name doesn’t currently appear on the UCI rankings in this discipline, meaning he hasn’t earned any points by participating in mountain bike races. This raises the question of how he can qualify for the Mountain Bike World Championships and secure a good starting position.

According to Dutch national coach Gerben de Knegt, the situation is less complicated than it seems. "The Netherlands usually has three starting spots. Since Mathieu is the only Dutch mountain biker at the elite level, getting him a World Championship ticket won’t be a problem," De Knegt told Sporza. While Van der Poel doesn’t need to worry about participating, his starting row will be determined by the UCI mountain bike ranking.

"It’s true that Mathieu currently has zero UCI points in mountain biking (because he hasn’t competed in any mountain bike races in the past year, ed.). So, he won’t start at the very front," De Knegt explained. But participating in a few mountain bike races to improve his starting position wouldn’t help much. "Even if Mathieu raced two World Cups, he still wouldn’t break into the top 100 of the UCI ranking," De Knegt clarified.

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Pidcock will be a major competitor at the Worlds

New rule offers a solution for Van der Poel

Fortunately, a new rule that has been introduced since last year’s World Championships in Glasgow offers a solution. "Riders ranked in the top 10 of another cycling discipline are allowed to start in the fifth row at championships," De Knegt explained. This means that despite his lack of UCI mountain bike points, Van der Poel could secure a more advantageous starting position thanks to his achievements in other disciplines.

De Knegt is confident that the World Championship course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, suits Van der Poel’s abilities. "It’s a beautiful course at an altitude of 1,500 meters. Mathieu has already proven in Val di Sole that he can handle such climber-friendly courses perfectly."

Nevertheless, the coach emphasized that Van der Poel still has work to do to contend for the world title. "It’s been a while since Mathieu competed at the highest level in mountain biking. Tom Pidcock is a two-time Olympic champion, you don’t beat him easily. I’m confident Mathieu can do it, but he’ll need to feel ready to be world champion in the lead-up to the World Championships," De Knegt concluded.

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