Mathieu van der Poel still dominates the cyclocross world as usual, but the Dutchman might be approaching his final cross season. In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, the world champion reveals that he has been thinking about retiring from cyclocross for some time. "It’s definitely something I think about, yes."
Van der Poel hinted on Saturday, after his win in Antwerp, in a conversation with Algemeen Dagblad about a possible farewell as a cross rider. A day later, he elaborated further with HLN. "I have always said that I would find it very special to retire on home soil holding the record. Besides that, there wouldn’t be much more left for me to achieve in cyclocross."
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider refers to an eighth world title at the upcoming World Championships in Hulst. And what about the 2028 World Championships in 'his' Hoogerheide? "I always wanted to stop at a high point. If you then finish fifth in Hoogerheide... There would still be a bit of a bitter aftertaste. I’m not saying I expect to be world champion in Hulst, but then I would at least have the choice to do it there."
"It’s nice to say goodbye at a high point"
A farewell as a cyclocross rider is definitely on his mind. "We’ve talked about it a few times internally already. It’s definitely something I think about, yes. I’m not getting any younger, you know. At the moment I’m still performing at a very high level, but who knows if that will still be the case in two or three years?"
Mathieu van der Poel during the Antwerp cyclocross – photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
"I honestly don’t know, because I don’t have a crystal ball. Otherwise, it would be easy, of course. That’s why I would like to retire at a high point."
"It also requires a lot of energy"
According to Van der Poel, this also brings some benefits. "I would mainly do it with the road season in mind, yes. To be able to take a bit more rest during the winter. For example, to be able to spend an entire winter in Spain and train there. I still love cyclocross very much, but it does come with a lot of factors and it requires a lot of energy."
"I don’t think I absolutely need cyclocross to reach my best level. Certainly not. Maybe I can even perform better without cross? If you don’t try, you won’t know. What I would miss the most? The racing itself, of course. That is still what I love to do most. And the crowd. I grew up with that atmosphere. Well, we’ll see. It’s definitely not a final decision yet."
Mathieu van der Poel
