'First and Last Time as Champion in Tábor': Mathieu van der Poel Hints End Is Nigh Ahead of Hunt for Historic Sixth CX World Title

Mathieu van der Poel won his first elite cyclocross title Tábor, and he might well win his last ‘cross rainbow jersey on the grassy Czech course, too.

MVDP brings jeopardy into Sunday’s world championship race, and it isn’t so much about his chance at winning. The Dutch dynamo raced this winter like he’s playing a computer game.

The question on everybody lips is whether Sunday’s worlds could be Van der Poel’s last.

It would mark the end of an era of near-unbreakable dominance, and put a nail into the coffin of this generation’s cross-discipline elite.

“It could be nice, my first time as world champion in Tábor, and the last time, too,” Van der Poel told the assembled press after he blazed to his 12th win in 13 races this season.

Also read:

• How did MVDP get so good this CX season?
• Is Van der Poel’s dominance making cyclocross a snooze-fest? 

MVDP will return to Tábor this coming Sunday with the potential to close a perfect CX circle.

He won his first elite title there in 2015 – beating guess who, Wout van Aert – and he hinted Sunday he could hang up his knobble-tired wheels there, too.

‘Cross adds extra complication to the Dutch dominator’s calendar now he’s increasingly focused on crushing cobbles and causing carnage at grand tours.

Cyclocross and MTB are becoming side-projects for modern-era MVDP.

“I don’t know yet [about cyclocross], I haven’t decided. As long as I enjoy racing ‘cross, I will continue to do it,” he said Sunday. “But it has to be meaningful.”

Van der Poel loves ‘cross, and the ‘cross world loves MVDP, even if he did turn racing into a search for second-place this winter.

The recently turned 29-year-old stayed true to his first love with a heavy winter of mud-racing while season-long rivals Van Aert and Tom Pidcock waited for a classics peak.

But who knows, Van der Poel might not do it again.

A potential sixth world title Sunday would write MVDP into the record books as second-most crowned male crosser in history behind Belgium’s seven-time king Erik de Vlaeminck.

Yet even Van der Poel’s CX stoke can only carry so far now his road ambitions as a sponsored-up WorldTour pro press hard.

“I keep ‘crossing to chase that world title. Those other cross races are beautiful, but they are no longer goals,” Van der Poel said Sunday after his win in Hoogerheide.

“But I can see myself spending a winter in Spain [training on the road] one day. The peace and quiet in particular would be an added value.

“Cyclocross is a challenge for the head, it is always very busy on the day of ‘cross races, and a lot is expected. Being able to train quietly every now and then would also be nice.”

‘If I don’t win worlds, I can’t call it a successful winter’

Van der Poel has a lot to gain when he lines up as uber-favorite on Sunday.

A sixth set of rainbows would elevate him above a clutch of five-time winners and into second in the all-time rankings.

But equally, Van der Poel has a lot to lose when he faces off against Thibau Nys, Michael Vanthourenhout, Eli Iserbyt, and the rest of the Belgian bloc this coming Sunday.

Anything but a gold medal will, in Van der Poel’s view, make the last three months a waste of effort.

“I think [I will be at my best for worlds]. At least that’s what we worked all winter for. I have already competed in good races, but the aim is to bring out the best version of myself in Tábor,” he said.

“But of course, it could always go wrong. If I don’t win the world championships, I can’t call it a successful winter.”

Both Van Aert and Pidcock won’t be racing ‘cross world on Sunday. After only a crash stopped Van der Poel from sweeping his 2023-24 season, even his Belgian foes have acknowledged it would take disaster to derail the strapping Dutchman in Tábor.

Any such disaster – a flat tire, a botched bunny hop, an Act of the cyclocross God – could ripple through Van der Poel’s classics calendar.

The monuments are MVDP’s North Star, a brighter guiding light than even a sixth CX rainbow jersey.

A full assault on the early monuments, where he will defend his titles at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix and aim at a third title in Flanders, follow just a few weeks down the tracks from Tábor.

“My peak should be in the spring,” he told Het Nieuwsblad earlier this year. “That’s still the most important thing.”

Van der Poel burned the candle both ends all winter by dovetailing ‘cross racing in north Europe with road training on Spain’s south coast.

Meanwhile, Pidcock and archrival Van Aert kept their jets cool and focused on the cobbles to come.

“It’s difficult to say what this winter has achieved physically. I was very good in the first races, but I don’t think it’s a real added value for the classics,” Van der Poel said Sunday.

“Today was very difficult, but it’s not the training you need for the spring. Five or six hours of endurance training are more useful than driving around an hour at the tipping point.”

Any upset in Tábor will frame Van der Poel’s entire classics calendar.

Missing monuments will be relayed back to an over-busy winter where MVDP “should” have chosen moderation.

Van der Poel and the end of the cross-discipline era?

Sunday’s elite worlds could mark a tipping point for the current era of multi-discipline star.

Van der Poel beat season-long rival Van Aert for his first elite title in Tábor in 2015, and a road-‘cross phenom ruled the muddy rainbow jersey every season since.

Van Aert won the next three, Pidcock made hay when the two toppers sat out the trip to Fayetteville in 2022, and Van der Poel ruled the rest.

Things changed this winter.

Pidcock and Van Aert made cyclocross a stepping stone into spring – a joyride diversion away from an off-season overloaded with zone two tapping on smooth tarmac.

Van der Poel stubbornly stayed true to his cyclocross love-affaire, and convinced himself that ‘cross and classics do combine.

“I know what Wout means [about reducing his ‘cross program], but cyclocross is still a good way of preparing for my road season. The worlds is still an objective,” Van der Poel said earlier this year.

“I don’t know how I’ll think about that in the years to come. Things will perhaps change.”

But maybe things are changing for MVDP.

Sunday wasn’t the first time he teased that time could be running out on a 15+ year fully-committed cyclocross career.

Will Tábor put the nail into the CX coffin or fuel the thirst for more?

If Van der Poel makes it six on Sunday, he’s only one short of De Vlaeminck and his all-time record. It would be hard to see Van der Poel not seeking No.7.

And if the Dutchman is somehow derailed?

Maybe it will be “five and done” for MVDP. Nys and the new generation will be waiting.