Matching Erik De Vlaeminck’s all-time record of seven world titles: that’s Mathieu van der Poel’s big mission for the winter.
The current rainbow jersey-wearer finally announced his cyclocross program on Friday. He will line out in a total of 11 races, starting with the Zonhoven world cup on December 22.
In all he will compete across seven weeks, and will clash with his top rival Wout van Aert on four occasions.
Those races will be Superprestige Zilvermeercross in Mol on December 23, Van Aert’s own first race back.
They will also square up at the Azencross Exact Cross race in Loenhout on December 27. That is followed by the Dendermonde round of the World Cup on January 5.
The final duel will be at the Masmechelen world cup on January 25.
Van Aert has been rebuilding after his knee injury in the Vuelta a España, and said recently that he was riding a a reduced calendar of six races “purely out of love for the sport.”
He added he had “modest ambitions,” but did hope to hit strong form towards the end of his stint on the CX bike.
Van der Poel hasn’t dealt with any injury concerns and will be ravenous from the start.
“I reflected on it for a while,” he said of the delay in starting his CX season.
“After careful consideration and discussions with the team management and performance staff, I decided on a solid schedule of races. A more compact program of, say, two world cup races combined with the world championship was another option, but I think it makes more sense to do a more extensive package of races.
“Once that decision was made, I quickly mapped out the races I wanted to include. And yes, I’m fortunate to have the freedom to choose the races I enjoy most.
“It is no coincidence that with Zonhoven, Mol and Koksijde there are a few typical sand races on the menu.”
‘We are really trying to peak at the worlds’
Van der Poel’s race program is a compression of what he did last winter. He began one week earlier, starting on December 16, and again competed until the world championship.
But this time he will ride 11 races, three less than last year. That may be partially due to the tough demands of balancing cyclocross and road; he had a superb spring campaign after a near-total dominance in ‘cross, but then had an uncharacteristically quiet summer.
Van der Poel didn’t comment on that drop in form. However he did explain his revised program is to better manage his physical condition.
“We are taking a slightly different approach this winter,” he explained.
“Last year, I started the season in top form, but the world championships were not my very best race of the season in terms of feeling. Now we are really trying to peak at the worlds by focusing on specific preparations during a training camp. For optimal efficiency, it’s better not to interrupt it.”
As a result he will miss two weekends in January, including the Benidorm world cup. He competed there in 2023 and 2024.
He will do six world cup races this time around, plus other events. The last of those is the cyclocross cross world championships on Feb 2.
The Dutchman is driven by one major goal.
“The seventh world title, of course. It is the only thing I still have to achieve in CX: this unique record of Erik De Vlaeminck,” he said.
“This aspiration has been a driving force in shaping my commitment to this winter’s cyclocross season. The world championship in Liévin is the only real goal, although I hope to fight for victory in all the other races I take part in.
“But we’ll see how I do in the first weeks. As I said, the peak will be a bit later this year.”