Van der Poel admits hard Classics reality: 'Even with the best numbers…'

His clearest explanation came when he talked about the Spring Classics and the quiet panic that defines them. Roads narrow, corners tighten, and suddenly the race is not about how hard you can go, but whether you still have a lane to go at all.

“Positioning is super important,” he said on the Whoop podcast. “We have key points. We go from big roads to a smaller climb, and you have to be in the first twenty riders. Because if there is a move and you are too far back, it is impossible. Even with the best numbers, it is impossible to be in the front group.”

“You need the numbers,” he said. “But you can also win races by being smarter, or by doing the right things at the right moment.”

He contrasted stage races with the classics. In the Tour de France, he said, climbing is often a more direct test. “On the climbs, the power numbers speak for themselves. Most of the time, the strongest guy wins.” In one-day races, the deciding moments come in clusters, and a small mistake can close the door.

“In classic races, you have a lot of different race situations, a lot of tactics,” the Dutchman said. “That is what makes it exciting.”

Asked how you learn it, he kept it simple: experience, and a team that can put you where you need to be.

“We are 180 guys and they all know where to be,” he said. “So it is always a big battle to be in front. You need a good team, good teammates, and you need experience to know how to get there.”

Then he shifted to mountain biking, the discipline he admitted gives him the most trouble.

Mountain biking, he said, is nothing like the disciplines that shaped him. “It is a completely different bike. It is not something I grew up doing. The courses are super hard and they are getting more and more technical.”

He added one more factor. “The best guys in mountain biking are a lot lighter than I am.” He estimated the gap at “a bit more than ten kilos.”

“It is probably the most difficult discipline for me,” he said. “But that is what makes it exciting. The challenge is the biggest one, and that is why I keep striving for it.”

He sums it up by declaring his love for the discipline: “From the first time I did some mountain bike races, I fell in love with it.”

The only other rider who entered the conversation was Wout van Aert, and Van der Poel explained how their rivalry has shaped his mindset.

“It motivates me,” he said. “It makes you aware that you need to do everything right to try to beat him.”

He described what it changes during the week. “If you won every race by two minutes, it would be easy to skip a gym session, or do one interval less,” he said. With a competitor who is almost equal, you do the extra rep “just to make sure.”

It is not yet clear when Van der Poel will begin his road season. After winning his eighth cyclocross world title, the 31-year-old Dutchman is back training in Spain and is considering starting at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, though nothing has been confirmed.