Fans of cyclocross have been waiting for this for a while, but since Friday afternoon it has become clear that we will likely see Mathieu van der Poel compete in the field about thirteen times this winter. The final details still need to be adjusted in the cyclocross program of the seven-time world champion, but based on the main outlines we know so far, we can draw six conclusions about the plans of the 30-year-old Dutchman.
Van der Poel's program immediately raised two questions from his team Alpecin-Deceuninck. First, Van der Poel wants to be absolutely sure that he is fully race-ready. Second, it also depends on how his road preparation unfolds. That’s why the cyclocross races in Namur and Benidorm are not yet fully confirmed. Van der Poel has been racing cyclocross primarily with the road season in mind for some time, but this again shows that cyclocross can only fit in as long as the important spring classics are not compromised.
This is also evident from his decision to make choices during the busiest period of the year. Specifically, between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, the cyclocross calendar is completely packed. Van der Poel will skip the tough race in Dendermonde, where a large part of the course is often running. He will also skip the evening race in Diegem. This way, he will only race cyclocross three days in a row once, in Antwerp, Koksijde, and Hofstade, right at the start of his campaign. So, there is no question of any overload.
Speaking of Diegem: does the organization need to rethink things after this setback? Van der Poel was a regular at the race for many years and even had an unbeaten status there for a while. He first started winning there as a junior and kept that streak going in all youth categories, then also won six times in a row at the elite level. In 2019, he crossed the finish line with ten fingers raised, referring to his ten consecutive victories in the Flemish Brabant town.
After two interruptions caused by COVID-19, Van der Poel participated again in 2022 but had to let Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock go ahead. A year later, he was the best again. Last year, Diegem was a notable absence in both Van der Poel’s and Van Aert’s programs, and now the world champion again chooses to skip Diegem. Is that because it’s an evening race? Does the fact that it’s an independent organization play a role? Or is it simply a coincidence?
Where Van der Poel starts, he often wins as well – photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos
If Van der Poel does indeed start in Namur on December 14, that would be his earliest winter start since 2022, when he resumed on November 27 in Hulst. In other years, like last cyclocross season on December 22 in Zonhoven and the year before in Herentals on December 16, Van der Poel started slightly later. The expectation was that the versatile powerhouse would begin around Christmas again, but this might now happen a bit earlier.
This way, Van der Poel would avoid his main rival Wout van Aert at least once. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider remains vague about his cyclocross plans for now, but it’s already clear that due to a training camp with his Dutch team, a return can only be expected no earlier than December 20 in Antwerp. How many head-to-heads we ultimately get is still to be seen.
It was the big wish of Flanders Classics CEO Tomas Van Den Spiegel and UCI Sports Director Peter Van Den Abeele to see the most successful cyclocross riders in the biggest consistency competition. And look, almost the entire program of the world champion is built around the World Cup. Dendermonde is missing, but normally eight of his thirteen races are World Cup events.
Flanders Classics’ and the UCI’s choices seem to be paying off, although there are still question marks over two races. This even makes a victory in that consistency classification realistic. Last year he finished fourth (!) overall, although he only competed in five of the eleven rounds (and won them all). If Van der Poel is equally strong in eight of the twelve rounds, more could be possible. For Van der Poel, that’s secondary; for the other riders, it’s a red flag.
Van der Poel has previously named the cyclocross world championship record as the main reason to keep racing. After his triumph in Liévin, the all-rounder has already matched Eric De Vlaeminck’s seven rainbow jerseys; now it’s just a matter of surpassing the Belgian cyclocross legend. Then Van der Poel can rightfully call himself 'the greatest cyclocrosser of all time.' Given his dominant cyclocross performance pattern in recent years, this is a very realistic scenario.
Mathieu van der Poel
