'Chances are the bike's staying in the garage for a while' - Mathieu van der Poel opts for gentle return to training

Dutch champion Mathieu van der Poel will soon get into his regular buildup for the cyclocross season, but it won't be happening quite yet.

With a low-key performance in the Mountain Bike World Championships, his latest competitive event, but a stunning series of Monuments victories also in the bag for 2025, the 30-year-old Alpecin-Deceuninck racer has taken a break. He has spent time in the US, playing golf - his other sporting passion along with cycling - prior to returning to Europe this autumn.

His big goals for 2026 on the road are already clear, where he'll be vying for a repeat defeat of Tadej Pogačar - something increasingly few riders can say - at Paris-Roubaix as well as a repeat ride in Tour de France. But as the 30-year-old told Het Laatste Nieuws in a recent interview, his cyclocross preparation has yet to get underway, with Belgium's current spell of poor weather not helping him get the ball rolling.

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"I also went for a spin yesterday (Monday - Ed.), but the chances are the bike will stay in the garage for a while.

"Another week of rest wouldn't hurt, because once my cyclocross season starts, we'll be off again for a quick succession of cyclocross races and classics. It'll all be back soon."

The reigning UCI Gravel World Champion will bypass defence of that title in his home country next Sunday. In the coming weeks, Van der Poel head to his favoured training terrain of Spain, he said, with his cyclocross program "somewhat similar to last year in terms of numbers, planning and content".

Now 30 years of age, Van der Poel said he is not in any danger of feeling burnout, although he recognised that with age he was getting increasingly focussed on specific goals.

"I've changed about that. I used to win most cyclocross races in the winter, and Wout van Aert still became World Champion.

"Competitive racing is fun, but at the end of the day, you're judged by winning races. Partly because I'm getting older, I've learned in recent years to concentrate on what suits me best - and that has already brought me a long way.

"The recent MTB World Championships ended in disappointment, but it remains a goal. I won't stop mountain biking until I've achieved my goal, even though there's a good chance I never will.

"It's more or less the same reason Tadej is also competing in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix: for a challenge."

Beating Tadej Pogačar

Van der Poel said he had no regrets that he did not take part in either the 2025 Road World Championships or the Europeans. He argued that although he did not believe that riders should only take part in races they had a chance of winning - "otherwise Tadej Pogačar would always be alone" - the truth was neither the Worlds circuit in Kigali nor the Europeans in the Drôme-Ardeche had offered him a realistic chance of success.

Beating Pogačar, in any case, is something that increasingly few riders can say they have achieved and as Van der Poel said, getting the chance to repeat his defeats of the Slovenian is another reason for keeping him inspired and motivated for the season to come.

"Definitely," he agreed. "If you can keep up with Tadej and beat him, you're close to winning these days. That will be the case next year as well."

Friends off the bike as well as rivals on it, Pogačar and the Dutchman exchanged messages after the Worlds, with Van der Poel congratulating the Slovenian on the second straight victory, and Pogačar apparently responding that he had been glad not to have to take on Van der Poel as well in Kigali. "However, I actually don't think it would have made much difference," Van der Poel, himself a Road World Champion back in 2023 in Glasgow, told HLN with admirable honesty.

That Pogačar continues to succeed at such a phenomenal rate no matter the terrain and race is something that can hardly fail to impress any bike rider and that obviously includes Van der Poel. It's reached the point, he said, where even if he doesn't feel the comparisons with Merckx are wise, "because his name is Pogačar," Van der Poel qualified his argument by saying, "It must feel a bit like the days when Eddy Merckx was racing. On his own turf, Pogačar is currently doing what he wants."

Van der Poel could still beat the otherwise near-unbeatable UAE leader in Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, though, but he insisted that "that was really on my turf, and even then it was close. I don't think I'm a threat to him on his turf."

Even so, Van der Poel's dominating role in the Classics remains one of the very few territories where Pogačar has not yet extended his control, and keeping it that way, no matter the rivals, is something that the Dutchman plans to do in 2025, and beyond. On top of that, achieving the maximum in the Tour de France, even if winning is not possible, will stay firmly on his radar as well.

"Yes. I'll definitely try to do that, regardless of whether it's against Pogačar or someone else," he concluded.

"The Tour and Roubaix will remain a goal every season, regardless of whether I've won there multiple times or a record number of times."