Van der Poel announced for Nové Mesto MTB showdown with Pidcock, Alpecin-Premier Tech denies

A mountain bike return for Mathieu van der Poel has appeared on the radar after the UCI MTB World Series announced the Dutchman for the World Cup round in Nové Město, Czech Republic. Tom Pidcock was also named for the May 24 event, although Alpecin-Premier Tech has contradicted the announcement, telling In de Leiderstrui that Van der Poel is not set to race. 

The team had already told Domestique the same earlier this week, when the first rumours of a possible Van der Poel appearance began to emerge.

Van der Poel’s last mountain bike appearance was last September at the UCI Cross-Country Olympic World Championships in Valais, Switzerland.

Since then, Van der Poel has won a record-breaking eighth UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Lièvin, France, and remained at the forefront of the spring Classics. 

On the road this season, Van der Poel has won Omloop Nieuwsblad, E3 Saxo Classic and two stages of Tirreno-Adriatico. The Dutchman also finished second at the Tour of Flanders behind Tadej Pogačar, and recovered to take fourth at Paris-Roubaix despite suffering a double mechanical on the Trouée d’Arenberg.

Fellow multi-discipline star and two-time Olympic champion Tom Pidcock is due to line up alongside the pure mountain bike specialists.

Pinarello-Q36.5 Sports Director Kurt Bogaerts confirmed to Domestique in April at the Tour of the Alps that “it is likely we’ll [Pidcock] try to do the World Cup in Nové Město.”

The 2025 World Cup series winner, Christopher Blevins, was victorious twelve months ago in Nové Město in the cross-country event, capitalising on the absence of Pidcock, who had won the previous four editions in the elite men’s race.

In fact, the 2021 edition saw Pidcock and Van der Poel go head to head, with the British rider winning, and Van der Poel finishing a minute behind in second.