Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has said that becoming cross-country mountain bike world champion "remains the goal" despite a crash-marred return to the discipline in Nové Město last month that left him with a DNF and a wrist injury.
The Dutchman headed to Nové Město, Czechia to race his first mountain bike World Cup in four years in May, but things did not go to plan when two crashes saw him abandon the XCO race and take home a wrist injury.
However, he is already back in action racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné, coming third on stage 1, and told Dutch newspaper AD that he is still aiming to become mountain bike world champion, with an appearance at the World Championships in Switzerland in September planned.
"That World Championship is definitely still the goal," he said to AD, adding that his injured wrist "doesn't really hurt, but I still have some discomfort".
The pair of crashes in Czechia raised some questions from some corners about Van der Poel's level in the discipline and the likelihood of him contending for the world title, but the Dutchman batted away any criticism.
"That last fall a blow? That’s saying a lot," he said. "It’s mainly a shame, because I wanted to go mountain biking. I don’t care that much about other opinions. I do what I have in mind."
The Dutchman also rebutted any notion that his crashes were down to a lack of skill or practice in mountain biking.
"I rode the course in Nové Město probably a hundred times, also at race pace and that all went perfectly. It was a bit of an unfortunate incident," he said.
Van der Poel's plan at present is to race the Tour de France and then continue preparing for the mountain bike World Championships, with the XCO race taking place on September 14.
"It is ideal that I can prepare for the World Championship after the Tour and hopefully do a few more races," he said. "I don't know exactly what that route looks like yet. First, we'll see how I come out of the Tour. But I will have the time."
As Van der Poel said, nothing is confirmed about which MTB races he may do after the Tour. There is just one World Series event between the Tour and the World Championships – Les Gets at the end of August – so he may opt for some lower-level events.
Van der Poel's unfortunate Nové Město outing was the latest in a string of disappointing showings on the mountain bike, including crashing out of Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 World Championships, and skipping Paris 2024, but the latest setback hasn't dampened his ambition.
"Setbacks are part of it," he said. "It only makes me more determined to do better. It is up to me to prove that I still have mountain biking in me."
