Mathieu van der Poel made his return to action on the mountain bike at the weekend, taking part in the final round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Les Gets, France.
The Dutchman, starting on the back foot after starting on the fifth row, ended up sixth at the finish, having fought his way through the pack.
The outing was Van der Poel's first on the mountain bike since May, when he took part in the Nové Město, Czechia round of the World Cup, crashing twice in the opening laps of the race before later abandoning. He had previously taken a break from mountain biking for almost two years
Van der Poel's race in Les Gets marks the start of a shift in focus as he takes aim at the MTB World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on September 14.
Speaking after the race, he told NOS that he was pleased with how the day had gone, having fallen well behind at the start after a slow start.
"I had decided not to take any risks on the first lap, but I lost a few positions," Van der Poel said. "When I got to the leading group, I was yo-yoing, and I was already past my prime. I notice I clearly need to do some specific training towards the World Championships, because I never felt like I could push myself."
Van der Poel caught the lead group of the race on the fifth of eight laps in Les Gets. He raced among the likes of Luca Braidot, Mathias Flückiger, and eventual winner Luca Martin. He'd end the day a minute down on Martin, after lacking some "punch" towards the end of the race.
"I'm happy with my race. I felt myself improving every lap, but in the final stages I lacked the punch and acceleration in my legs to compete for the win," he said.
"I would have settled for this result beforehand, but in retrospect, I might have been able to achieve even more if I had been a bit more aggressive in the first laps."
Van der Poel, already a multiple world champion in cyclo-cross, in addition to holding titles in gravel and road, aims to complete the set of rainbow jerseys in Crans-Montana later this month.
He has won national and European cross-country mountain bike titles but he hasn't yet taken a world title. The best result of his career to date is bronze at the 2018 MTB Worlds, where he finished behind Nino Schurter and Gerhard Kerschbaumer.
