'I need to rest' - Van der Poel falls short at Mountain Bike Worlds

Mathieu van der Poel’s quest for a rainbow jersey in a fourth discipline fell short at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Crans-Montana on Sunday. The Dutchman was with the leaders on the second lap, but he faded to finish in 29th place as Alan Hatherly (South Africa) defended his crown.

“I need to rest. The bike’s going to be put aside for a bit,” Van der Poel told NOS afterwards, confirming that his road season is over. He also ruled himself out of the Gravel World Championships and he doesn’t envisage racing on the cyclocross circuit until December.

Van der Poel raced just two mountain bike events this year, crashing out of the Nove Mesto World Cup in May and then placing sixth at the Les Gets World Cup two weeks ago. As a result, he started the World Championships on the fifth row, but he moved up rapidly to finish the opening lap in seventh place.

He would start to struggle by the third lap, and he began to drop back through the field. Van der Poel would finish the day in 29th place, some 5:35 down on Hatherly. Simone Avondetto (Italy) took silver ahead of Victor Koretzky (France).

“The start was a dream scenario, but after that it was a long race mentally,” Van der Poel said. “But mountain biking is the only discipline in which it’s still fun just to ride around. My legs were really bad, but I tried to enjoy it a bit. I never even thought about quitting. I was here anyway. Quitting doesn’t change anything.”

Van der Poel’s tilt at the Mountain Bike Worlds was surely helped by his decision not to ride the demanding Road Worlds in Rwanda in two weeks’ time. However, he indicated that he still retains the ambition of one day donning the mountain bike rainbow jersey to add to his world titles in cyclocross, gravel and road. 

“The world title in mountain biking remains my dream, and I still have a few years to go,” Van der Poel said. “We’ll keep trying.”

Van der Poel enjoyed another fine season in 2025, beginning with his seventh cyclocross world title. On the road, he landed victories at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix to bring his running tally of Monuments to eight.

In July, he won a stage of the Tour de France and wore yellow for four days before he abandoned the race with what was later revealed to be pneumonia. Van der Poel returned to action at the Renewi Tour in August, where he won in Geraardsbergen and placed second overall to Arnaud De Lie. He confirmed on Sunday that it had been the final act of his road season.

“After the Renewi Tour I had already decided that the Mountain Bike Worlds would be my last race,” said Van der Poel.