Mathieu van der Poel fears flat tires in Maasmechelen

The general rehearsal for the 2026 Cyclocross World Championships in Hulst begins Saturday afternoon in Maasmechelen. World champion Mathieu van der Poel hopes to put the finishing touches on his form. Despite the sunny weather conditions, this won't be easy. He fears flat tires on the stone-strewn course. He told WielerFlits about this.

The sun smiles down on the crowd in Maasmechelen. For MVDP, this is nothing unusual, as he experienced these conditions firsthand last week during his training in Spain. "I actually preferred it a bit more last year with all that mud," he laughs for our camera. "This is a completely different course now. But we'll have to make do with the weather we have."

A consequence of the sunny conditions is the dryness of the course, which is located on an old mining spoil tip. That means weaving around the exposed stones. "I might opt for slightly higher tire pressure," explains the Alpecin-Premier Tech world champion. "A flat tire here is really not recommended. But it will happen anyway." Van der Poel has been flawless in this cyclocross season so far: he has won all ten races he started.