Mathieu van der Poel Is Ready to Sacrifice the Tour de France for Elusive MTB World Title

Mathieu van der Poel loves the mountain bike, but the mountain bike definitely didn’t love him back Sunday when his latest shot at MTB glory ended in anonymity.

A 30th-place finish at the UCI world championships on Sunday continues a string of shockers for a rider of MVDP’s caliber.

“Those bad results are piling up a bit now,” the Dutchman told reporters at the finish Sunday. “Last year I could feel ahead of worlds that I wasn’t 100 percent. But this time I had expected a lot more.”

There was no hiding the disappointment.

“I can’t do anything about it now,” he said. “Unfortunately, days like this happen too.”

Van der Poel finished in mid-pack misery Sunday in Val di Sole, nearly 5 minutes back on his title-winning rival, Tom Pidcock.

Speaking after the race, Van der Poel said he knew his legs were cooked as soon as he started. Only pride and his love for cross-country stopped him from quitting.

And it’s that love of the trails that keeps pulling him back.

“This won’t change my future mountain bike plans,” he said Sunday. “I prefer to be on the mountain bike most often.

“Everyone knows that it is difficult to combine this with my plans on the road,” he said. “But that’s what makes the challenge so beautiful.”

Van der Poel’s quest to win the one rainbow jersey that’s not yet in his collection continues – no matter what past results are telling him.

Another high-profile MTB race, another disappointment

Van der Poel has gotten multiple sets of cyclocross world titles.

He’s won road and gravel worlds.

But his record in championship-level cross country MTB is cringeworthy.

A devastating crash at the Tokyo Olympics. A DNF at Glasgow worlds (he had just won the road race despite a crash, to be fair). 29th and then 30th in the last two editions of the race for rainbows.

Yet Van der Poel has got winning potential on the mountain bike.

Raw power. Handling panache. Racing instinct.

His Alpecin-Premier Tech team wouldn’t allow him to risk his road season in the dirt if there was no possible reward.

That he took rising Frenchman Adrien Boichis to the final lap in Les Gets just one week before he lined out in Val di Sole proves his belief he can win a mountain bike world title.

But his potential deserted him when he needed it most Sunday.

“I had no power in my legs today. It just really wasn’t good,” he said after worlds. “I felt good in training last week and this week.

“It is the same story as last year. The race before the world championships was good, and then it’s bad at the world championships itself,” he continued. “I don’t have an explanation for that yet.”

Van der Poel faces start grid problems

The elephant in the room here?

Maybe Van der Poel is trying to do too much all at once.

He was chasing Tadej Pogačar around Flanders and the Tour de France while his off-road rivals were shredding singletrack.

It left MVDP – like Pidcock – gridded in the fifth row of the start-pen at MTB worlds and facing a race through traffic.

Pidcock had the edge to slice through the pack. On Sunday, Van der Poel did not. His best position through the grueling hilly race was 17th.

Team priorities vs. personal dreams

If Van der Poel loves MTB so much, he’s got to rethink his season, and he knows it.

Cyclocross in winter, road and MTB in spring and summer?

Something’s gotta give.

Unlike Pidcock, the big Dutchman needs a strong position on the grid to maximize his chances of a medal.

“In Les Gets I saw how big the difference is when you start closer to the front. You’re immediately part of the race,” Van der Poel said in a press call ahead of worlds.

“If I really want to give myself the best chance of becoming world champion one day, I’ll probably need a season where I spend more time on the mountain bike,” he said. “That’s so I can earn a place on one of those first two rows.”

Van der Poel secured a favorable starting position in the French World Cup race thanks to a new UCI system that pools road and MTB points.

It’s a rule that doesn’t extend to the world championships.

Only riders high in the mountain bike rankings are allowed such a luxury.

“I’d definitely like to have a year where I can put a bit more focus on the mountain bike,” Van der Poel said. “But that’s something that has to be discussed with the team. There are other commitments too.”

The pull of the L.A. Olympics

Van der Poel has hinted before that 2028 might be the year he fully focuses on MTB.

The L.A. Olympic Games, and the chance to take on two-time gold medalist Pidcock, are very tempting.

It would come at a cost. The Tour de France – a race where he’s won four stages, worn the maillot jaune, and gives chauffeur service to his sprinter Jasper Philipsen – would be off the agenda.

Even the monument trio of Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, and Tour of Flanders would be at threat.

Top brass at Alpecin-Premier Tech might have something to say about that.

Those awkward discussions might need to go on pause until off-season. After Tadej Pogačar’s brutal crash at the Vuelta a España, MVDP is in pole position to make up for his MTB disappointment at the Montréal road worlds.

And that epitomizes Van der Poel’s problem. He’s very good at bike racing, no matter what discipline.