'I’ll probably need a season where I spend more time on the mountain bike' - Mathieu van der Poel realistic ahead of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

Mathieu van der Poel will start Sunday’s UCI Mountain Bike World Championships elite men's cross country race hoping to finally secure the rainbow jersey in the discipline, but admits he doesn’t need the win for his career to be a success.

However, the 31-year-old believes that if he is ever to win the rainbow jersey in mountain biking, he would benefit from racing the discipline more regularly than in recent years.

Van der Poel’s best result in the Cross-Country Olympic race (XCO) Worlds came as far back as 2018 when he was third at Lenzerheide, with his subsequent attempts being blighted by poor luck and bad start grid positions.

As if to prove his point, a second place at last weekend’s World Cup in Les Gets was not only his best result in the discipline since 2021, but his first race of the 2026 mountain bike season. A decent result in the short track race allowed him to start from the second row, something he admitted was a benefit. However, having raced so little in recent years, he will have no such luck on Sunday.

"Starting from the fifth row obviously reduces my chances," Van der Poel told a press call by the Alpecin-Premier Tech campervan in Val di Sole on Friday.

"In Les Gets I saw again how big the difference is when you start closer to the front, you’re immediately part of the race. 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. For Sunday, though, the situation is what it is. I’ll have to make the best of it and maybe have a little bit of luck as well."

"I came out of the Tour in much better shape this year, and winning on the Champs-Élysées obviously gave me a lot of confidence and motivation. Last year I wasn’t really at my normal level. This time the switch to the mountain bike has been much smoother. I also spent a lot of time on the MTB during my altitude camp in Livigno, and I think I needed that."

Though he’ll ride in the orange jersey of the Netherlands this weekend, he has been supported this week by his trade team, Alpecin-Premier Tech, who have brought in Matteo Berta as technical coach to give both Van der Poel and their hope for the women’s race, Puck Pieterse, the best chance of success. The Italian will check the course and give riders advice on the best lines. However, he will not be able to compensate for the poor start position, though Van der Poel has at least learnt after getting over-excited last year, when he finished a lowly 29th.

"Last year I actually had a good start, but I was probably a little too eager to move up immediately. If you go too deep early on, you pay for it straight away, and often that’s exactly when the guys at the front accelerate again. But at the same time you don’t want to lose contact with the race. Finding that balance will be important."

Wherever he finishes Sunday’s race, Van der Poel won’t let the result tarnish his stellar career. Not only does he have eight elite cyclocross rainbow jerseys to his name, there are a host of honours on the road, including eight Monument victories and Grand Tour stage wins.

"It’s definitely an important goal for me, but I think it would be too simplistic to say I need an MTB world title for my career to be successful," he explained. "I wouldn’t look back on my career disappointed if I never won it. But of course I really want to add it to my palmarès. If it doesn’t happen this year, hopefully there will be another opportunity.

"I’d definitely like to have a year where I can put a bit more focus on mountain biking. 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.”

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