Mathieu van der Poel makes a calculated transition from the mountain bike back to road for his pursuit of another rainbow jersey, a second Road World Championships title in Montreal on September 27. Rather than polish his road form at the two WorldTour one-day races in Canada next week, he will instead lead Alpecin-Premier Tech at the Tour de Luxembourg, September 16-20.
The team confirmed the Dutch rider's schedule on social media Wednesday. This will be the second time Van der Poel has competed in the five-day stage race. He made his last appearance while in the rainbow stripes two years ago, winning the opening stage and the points classification and finishing second overall.
His 2024 build-up in Luxembourg led him to the bronze medal at Road Worlds in Switzerland, joining winner Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) and runner-up Ben O'Connor (Australia) on the podium. It was a disappointing finish for the Dutchman, who had soloed on wet roads in Glasgow the year before for the second road world title of his career - his first was in 2013 as a junior.
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Last year Van der Poel was not part of the Dutch squad for the Road World Championships in Rwanda, as he did not favour the climbing-heavy course. He later returned to a reduced cyclo-cross schedule, and notched a record eighth world title in that discipline.
What evades Van der Poel is a world title in cross-country mountain bike. He started last week's UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, but having competed in only one World Cup, he started on the fifth row and struggled to make up places, eventually finishing in 30th.
It was highly anticipated that the 31-year-old would start the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on September 11 and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal two days later for the first time. However, Alpecin-Premier Tech has not yet announced their roster for the two races.
This road season has seen Van der Poel earn significant milestones, including a third E3 Saxo Classic and two stage wins at the Tour de France, including his goal for glory on the Champs-Élysées.
Van der Poel will look for a spark again in Luxembourg to up his game in Montréal for the elite men's road race, a 273.7km course. The race marks the first Road World Championships in Canada since 2003 when it was hosted in Hamilton, Ontario.
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