Van der Poel faces Tour de France question as MTB world title keeps slipping away

Three days before the Mountain Bike World Championships, Mathieu van der Poel had already identified the problem.

“If I really want to give myself the best possible chance of becoming world champion one day, I’ll probably need a season where I spend more time on the mountain bike so I can earn a place on one of those first two rows,” he said during a press call outside the Alpecin-Premier Tech camper van, as reported by Cyclingnews.

By Sunday afternoon in Val di Sole, the point had become difficult to ignore.

Van der Poel finished 30th, 4:40 behind world champion Tom Pidcock, despite arriving in Italy after finishing second at the World Cup in Les Gets only a week earlier.

The result did not alter his intentions.

“This won’t change my future mountain bike plans,” Van der Poel told reporters after the finish, according to HLN. “I prefer to be on the mountain bike most often.”

His starting position was again part of the equation. Van der Poel began on the fifth row after racing relatively little on the mountain bike this season. Pidcock faced a similar problem, but the Briton steadily worked his way through the field before taking his second elite world title.

Van der Poel never managed the same.

He did not use the grid as an excuse afterwards.

“It speaks for itself that he is a much better mountain biker than I am,” Van der Poel said of Pidcock after the race. “He is strong enough to ride himself to the front. I don’t have that extra power on the climb to do that. That is a big difference.”

For Van der Poel, the comparison was a reminder of what a limited mountain bike programme can mean at the highest level.

He has won world titles on the road, on gravel and eight times in cyclocross, but the mountain bike rainbow jersey remains absent from his collection. His last two attempts have ended with 29th and 30th place.

Neither result reflects what he has shown he can do in the discipline at his best. His second place in Les Gets just a week earlier underlined that the potential is still there, but also how much difference a better starting position and more specific preparation can make.

Van der Poel had already suggested before Worlds that he would like to approach the discipline differently.

“I’d definitely like to have a year where I can put a bit more focus on mountain biking,” he said during Friday’s press call. “But that’s something that has to be discussed with the team because there are other commitments too. But yes, I’d like to give it a proper try.”

The question is which commitments would have to make room.

Van der Poel has not said that he plans to skip the Tour next year. There is an important distinction between wanting more time on the mountain bike and already restructuring his road programme around it.

For 2028, however, he has gone considerably further.

The Olympic mountain bike race in Los Angeles has long been one of Van der Poel’s remaining career ambitions. He will be 33 that year and has spoken about it as potentially his final opportunity to win an Olympic title in the discipline.

In an interview published by Het Nieuwsblad during the Tour de Suisse earlier this year, Van der Poel was asked whether his entire 2028 season could be built around that goal.

“Not the whole season,” he said. “The spring doesn’t get in the way, but the Tour does. LA will in principle be my last chance, so a summer without the Tour is certainly on the table. After the spring, I would then switch my focus to mountain biking.”

That comment takes on more significance after Val di Sole.

Van der Poel has now finished 29th and 30th at consecutive Mountain Bike World Championships. Neither result reflects what he has shown he can do in the discipline at his best. His second place een week eerder in Les Gets underlined that the speed is still there, but also how much difference a better starting position and more specific preparation can make.

There is no suggestion yet that 2027 will become a mountain bike first season. His spring Classics programme remains central to both Van der Poel and Alpecin-Premier Tech, while the Tour remains one of the most important races of the year for the team.

But Van der Poel has now said two things that are difficult to ignore.

To give himself his best shot at the MTB rainbow jersey, he believes he needs a season with more mountain bike racing. And for his Olympic attempt in 2028, he is already prepared to consider a summer without the Tour.

Before any decisions about next season are made, Van der Poel has another rainbow jersey to chase.

The 31-year-old confirmed after the mountain bike race that he will compete in the Road World Championships in Montréal later this month, according to Het Nieuwsblad. No decision has yet been made on whether he will also race the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in the build up.

The situation surrounding defending world champion Tadej Pogačar could have a major influence on how the World Championships unfold.

Pogačar crashed heavily during stage eight of the Vuelta a España on Saturday. UAE Team Emirates-XRG later confirmed a concussion, a displaced fracture of his left collarbone and a stable C7 cervical fracture. He underwent successful surgery on the collarbone on Monday, but his participation in Montréal looks unlikely.

Van der Poel happened to turn on the Vuelta around the time of the crash.

“When I turned on the Vuelta on Saturday, he was just lying on the ground,” Van der Poel told Het Nieuwsblad. “It was a very unfortunate crash. You can see that from the injuries.”

He was reluctant to make any prediction about whether Pogačar could recover in time.

“That is for him and his entourage to see, whether the World Championships are achievable,” Van der Poel said. “Given the injuries he has, it seems difficult to me, but you never know.”

The collarbone fracture on its own, he suggested, would not necessarily rule Pogačar out.

“With a broken collarbone it is certainly possible to race again after four weeks,” he said. “But with the neck fracture and the concussion as well, that is different.”

Van der Poel also sent his rival a message wishing him well.

“Anything more wouldn’t be much use to him.”