Rider Profile
Mathieu van der Poel
Alpecin-Deceuninck
Personal Details:
Teams history:
- 2025 - Alpecin-Deceuninck
- 2024 - Alpecin-Deceuninck
- 2023 - Alpecin-Deceuninck
- 2022 - Alpecin-Deceuninck
- 2021 - Alpecin-Fenix
- 2020 - Alpecin-Fenix
- 2019 - Corendon-Circus
- 2017 - Beobank-Corendon
- 2016 - Beobank-Corendon
Biography:
Mathieu van der Poel was born in Kapellen on January 19, 1995, son of Adrie van der Poel and grandson of Raymond Poulidor.
Van der Poel’s pedigree first translated into underage success on the cyclocross circuit, though he also served notice of his ability on the road with gold in the junior road race at the 2013 World Championships in Florence.
In Tabor in 2015, Van der Poel claimed the first of four elite cyclocross world titles. Together with his contemporary Wout van Aert, he would dominate the cyclocross scene and it was only a matter of time before their rivalry extended to the road.
In his early years at senior level, Van der Poel raced sparingly but promisingly on the road, winning the Dutch title in 2018 and placing second in that year’s European Championships. The breakthrough came the following Spring, when Van der Poel sampled the Classics for the first time and enjoyed immediate success by winning Dwars door Vlaanderen and then scoring a remarkable comeback victory at Amstel Gold Race.
In the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season, Van der Poel beat Van Aert in a two-up sprint to win a dramatic edition of the Tour of Flanders, and he claimed an astounding victory ahead of a deep field at the 2021 Strade Bianche.
The 2021 road campaign also saw near misses at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, as well as a remarkable Tour de France debut in which Van der Poel won stage 2 at Mur de Bretagne and spent six days in the yellow jersey. Despite a nagging back injury, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider added another Tour of Flanders and Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2022, when he also won the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia in Visegrad.
A rapid finisher, a solid time triallist and often overwhelming on punchy climbs, Van der Poel has also won medals in both the Mountain Bike and Gravel World Championships. Few riders in the history of cycling have been as versatile.
Van der Poel had the best year of his career in 2023, winning his fifth cyclocross world title, Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the road world championship title.
In 2024, he made history by winning both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same year for only the 13th time in history.
Key Results
1st Ronde van Limburg 2014
1st Dwars door het Hageland - Aarschot 2017
1st overall Boucles de la Mayenne 2017
1st Brabantse Pijl 2019
1st Amstel Gold 2019
1st Tour of Flanders 2020, 2022
1st Strade Bianche 2021
1st Dwars door Vlaanderen 2019, 2022
1st Dutch National Elite Road Race 2018, 2020
1st Tour de France stage 2, 2021
1st Giro d'Italia stage 1, 2022
1st Milan-San Remo, 2023
1st Paris-Roubaix, 2023
1st UCI Road World Championship Elite Men's Road Race, 2023
Cyclocross
1st World Champion 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
1st European Champion 2017, 2018, 2019
1st Dutch National Champion 2015 - 2020
Mountain Bike
1st Dutch National Champion, 2018
1st European Champion, 2019
2nd World Cup XCO Overall, 2018
Gravel
3rd UCI World Championships, 2022
Related Articles
'I really want that title' – Mathieu van der Poel eyes tilt at Mountain Bike Worlds in 2025
By Barry Ryan published
News Dutchman wins on gravel to claim rainbow jersey in third discipline
Stuyven accuses Belgian teammates of riding in support of Mathieu van der Poel at Gravel Worlds
By Dani Ostanek published
News 'It was very clear that all the guys from Alpecin were here to help him'
'I just wanted to make the race as hard as possible' - Mathieu van der Poel goes from wildcard to winner at Gravel World Championships
By Jackie Tyson published
News 'It was a big goal for me' Dutch rider says as he earned a 10th career rainbow jersey in third discipline
Latvia protests non-disqualification of Van der Poel after he 'endangered spectators' at Worlds
By James Moultrie published
News 'It seems that some are more equal than others, especially when it comes to unpopular decisions to be made' says Federation president
Who will win the 2024 Gravel World Championships? Analysing the contenders
By Simone Giuliani, Jackie Tyson, Kirsten Frattini published
Van der Poel, Mohoric, Kopecky among WorldTour talents to line up against gravel greats in Belgian showdown
‘I thought he was throwing away his chances’ – Mathieu van der Poel stunned by Tadej Pogačar’s Worlds solo
By Barry Ryan published
News Dutchman sprints to bronze medal but performance won’t change Classics priorities
One wildcard spot for Mathieu van der Poel 'saved for him' on Dutch gravel worlds team
By Jackie Tyson published
News 'It will be a last-minute decision' says new gravel coach Laurens ten Dam
'I can only say Mathieu is fine' - Alpecin-Deceuninck fully confident in Van der Poel for World Championships
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
News Dutch trade team manager discusses defending world champion's build up for Zurich
Blogs
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Nathan Haas blog: Has the UCI done enough for gravel pros at the Gravel World Championships?
Sponsored gravel riders appear to be losing interest in the rainbow jersey battle -
Lauren De Crescenzo and her tough decision to miss UCI Gravel World Championships
In her own words, the gravel star explains the complex picture of the Gravel World Championships for the US team -
A proper women's race – Historic day in Emporia at Unbound Gravel
Extended gaps around women's start end with unprecedented sprint finish though 'it’s still imperfect, but it’s the best we can do for now' -
Road prep and adapting to new rules as Life Time Grand Prix begins at Fuego XL mountain bike event
Lauren De Crescenzo uses The Growler for confidence boost ride ahead of prestigious off-road series -
'Untapped gold' in store for inaugural RADL GRVL in South Australia
Nathan Haas calls gravel course 'raw, fast, exciting' after pre-ride with co-founder Valtteri Bottas