From the World Cup round on Sunday in Namur, the cyclocross world will once again be turned upside down for a month and a half by Mathieu van der Poel. The seven-time world champion has lost only one of his last 25 cyclocross races and seems to improve every winter, so a large part of the cyclocross peloton already knows what awaits them from Sunday onwards.
We don’t know much about the world champion’s preparations, except that the second part of his season was not easy. After a lung infection forced him out of the Tour de France, Van der Poel never quite returned to top form due to the aftereffects of the illness. The all-rounder did win a stage in the Renewi Tour, but after a disappointing MTB World Championships, he ended his road season in September.
“His training restart was more difficult than usual, but his rest period was also longer,” confirmed his team manager Christoph Roodhooft to our camera last week. “But now he’s really in good shape, he feels the training is paying off and that he’s at a level where he’s ready to race again. Mathieu is looking strong. He will do just a little bit of cross-specific training, that’s all.”
Racing for second place
That Van der Poel is ‘in good shape’ doesn’t bode well for his rivals. Are they bothered by the fact that the world champion might dominate again in the upcoming period? “I’m not specifically thinking about that,” says Lars van der Haar, second in the World Cup in Flamanville. “I just continue with my life. I grew up with Mathieu and have always done my best to beat him. But I don’t get the feeling that God is cycling with me or anything.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Mathieu, who I consider a super athlete. From the outside, it’s great to see him come to cyclocross races and control the races with great class. But I really don’t feel privileged to ride against him. Maybe that’s more a thing for the media and the fans,” said the Dutch cyclocrosser.
“Podium positions are victories,” says Van der Haar - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
On the other hand, Van der Poel’s participation not only reduces Van der Haar’s chances of a big win but also suddenly brings the chances of other ‘pure’ cyclocross specialists close to zero for the upcoming period. “Sportingly, that changes everything,” explains European champion Toon Aerts. “He might not even be in his best cyclocross shape because he barely trained on the bike in the field. But actually, that doesn’t matter much. We know that from now until the World Championships, we’re racing for second place.”
“If you simply look at history, you know the wins disappear as soon as Van der Poel is involved,” adds Van der Haar. Maybe Namur will be the hardest race, but after that, it’s over. But that doesn’t mean you don’t try to get the result as close as possible there. Podium places suddenly become victories. Everyone who can get close will try to beat him and pick up the challenge. I’ve used every chance I’ve gotten against Mathieu, but he reaches a special level each time. Especially in his first two races, it’s often extreme.”
Aerts doesn’t find that frustrating. “We have to be realistic. This season I’ve taken two great wins, including the European Championship. But I can’t say: I had a sure win in Namur, but because Mathieu is racing, I lost it. I wasn’t at that level at all, though I admit you first hope he waits one more week. That might be different for someone like Thibau Nys. Thibau was dominating a little in recent weeks. That of course is over now.”
How fast does he get away?
The two don’t expect a very different scenario than in previous years. Last year, at Van der Poel’s comeback in the sand race at Zonhoven, he was already leading after half a minute, then rode everyone out of sight. A year earlier in Herentals, it didn’t even take a full lap before Van der Poel had dropped all others. The caveat, however, is that Van der Poel’s first race on the Citadel in Namur will immediately have a tougher course.
“I think it will take a little longer now,” says Van der Haar, due to the specific course in Namur. “Unless he gets full space on the climb right after the start. If he doesn’t get that full space, it might take another lap. At least. If he does, it’s quite likely he will be the first to turn right at the top of the Citadel.”
How long will Thibau Nys hang on - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
Something Aerts agrees with. “That uphill start in Namur suits him well. He can definitely get away there, and I expect him to attack quickly and be gone. But in principle, it’s not necessary. He can wait a bit. Considering the difficulty of the course and the elevation, there are still plenty of places to make the difference. After all those hours of training in Spain, he will definitely have a cyclocross of that tempo in his legs.”
A phenomenon seen in recent years was that riders didn’t even try to follow such attacks from Van der Poel for fear of blowing themselves up. Does that make the gaps look even bigger? Aerts says: “You can only really challenge him if you come close to his level. And I don’t see anyone doing that right now. Maybe Tibor Del Grosso the closest. But a real duel? You shouldn’t expect that. Thibau Nys is already a lot better than in previous years and has taken big steps. But let’s not expect him to reach that level yet. It’s already very impressive to be second to Mathieu van der Poel.”
Van der Haar: “Of course Thibau has dominated, but it’s not like in Tábor – which I thought was his best race of the season – he rode away from us by two minutes. Mathieu has done that, so that’s something else. But I do think the overall level has risen in depth. You see more riders have reached the high level that Thibau is at. That might make it a bit harder for Mathieu to pull away. There might be fewer gaps because we’ve gotten closer together.”
Extra fresh
The Dutchman sees another explanation for the possibly large difference with the strong world champion. “He’s coming in extra fresh, while we’ve already had a third of the season. We’ve also been on training camps, but we can never get back to the level we had at the beginning of the season. Mathieu is already a step better, and if he comes in fresh, that makes a double difference. You also see it in how hard the racing was; there was more fierceness in October than now.”
“If Mathieu raced from October on, of course he’d win all races. But then it wouldn’t be with those two-minute advantages that he sometimes has in early cross races. That difference would be different, I’m sure of that. But actually, we shouldn’t think too much about that. It is what it is now. We want to seize our chances, but don’t focus too much on Mathieu. If he’s good, he will ride away from you anyway,” laughs the Baloise Glowi Lions rider.
