Van der Poel extends with Alpecin-Fenix through the 2025 season
'I'll most likely continue to combine road, cyclo-cross and mountain bike until Paris 2024' says Dutchman
Mathieu van der Poel has extended his contract with Alpecin-Fenix until the end of 2025, the team has announced.
The Dutchman, who has been at the squad for a decade, will now be staying at the ProTeam through his age 30 season, continuing to race across road, cyclo-cross and mountain bike along the way.
Van der Poel, who this year alone has won a stage at his debut Tour de France and worn the yellow jersey, won the Cyclo-cross Worlds for a fourth time, and won two MTB Cross-country World Cups, said that he was pleased to stay at the team, which he feels has developed alongside himself.
"I'm very happy to have signed this long-term contract with a team that feels like my second family," he said. "I'm really enjoying myself at Alpecin-Fenix. The team has developed fantastically in the last years – simultaneously with the progress I've been making – and are still getting better and stronger each year.
"It's quite unique that I've been riding for the same team for so long and that I'll continue to do so for another four years. Who knows I will have raced for only one team in my entire career?
"I try not to think too far ahead but becoming world champion in three different disciplines in the coming years would be a dream come true. I'll most likely continue to combine road cycling, cyclo-cross and mountain bike until Paris 2024."
Van der Poel, who is currently battling with a back problem he has suffered since May, could be back in action later this season with the Road World Championships in Flanders and a Paris-Roubaix debut on his schedule should his back pain ease.
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His 2021 season has included several ups and downs, though more of the latter. High points have included two stage wins at the Tour de Suisse and Tirreno-Adriatico, a Strade Bianche victory as well as his Tour success, while being pipped to a Tour of Flanders victory by Kasper Asgreen and crashing out of the Cross-country MTB race at the Tokyo Olympics have come as disappointments.
Team co-manager Christoph Roodhooft called Van der Poel "one of the pillars of our team", adding that the security of a long-term contract such as this is important for the team to be able to keep growing.
"We want to be a stable team and continue to grow. Mathieu is one of the pillars of our team, so it is important to have that certainty of him staying with us for four more years in order to further expand the team," Roodhooft said.
"Sponsors, teammates, etc. get a strong signal from him as the team leader by extending his engagement. It's also a token of appreciation. Such a long-term contract is not new to us. It is important for us to be able to grow, to continue working on our project and to give people confidence.
"The past ten years with Mathieu have been an incredible trajectory. After such a long time, everything becomes very familiar, you can interact with each other in an easy way. I think we fulfill some essential elements for him today: the sporting and financial aspect, the framework… So the decision has been quite easy for him.
"It was our ambition to grow as a team. Mathieu's development has been a lever, and on the other hand his growth has obliged us to do so. The options were either to stop or to expand. In 2019 we became a Pro Team and, in the meantime, we have evolved towards the top ten best teams in the world, I think. We have mutually reinforced each other in that regard."
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.