Van der Poel Can Rewrite Cycling History in 2026 if Pogačar Doesn't Beat Him To It

Mathieu van der Poel went straight from the mud to the piste as he hit his reset button on the ski slopes of Livigno and transitions from cyclocross monster mode to classics killer.

Now that he’s made CX history, MVDP pivots toward the spring classics and a renewed clash with Tadej Pogačar in his quest to cement his GOAT status in the cobbled monuments.

All roads lead back to the spring classics in what should be a generational clash of the one-day titans.

“After the holiday, I’m heading back to Spain to prepare for the road season,” Van der Poel told Sporza. “I will decide if I race [Omloop Het Nieuwsblad] the week before. If I feel good enough, I will definitely pick it up. Like Le Samyn last year. Otherwise, it will race Tirreno-Adriatico again.”

After winning a record eighth men’s cyclocross world title, the Alpecin-Premier Tech star could be writing more pages of cycling history this spring if he continues to play Pog-Slayer across the northern monuments.

The Flying Dutchman is the only rider who’s capable of taking down Pogačar mano-a-mano in select one-day races, when he remains a rare legitimate rival who can knock back the Slovenian superstar on equal footing, with the caveat that it’s on terrain that suits his style of racing.

Van der Poel, 31, is on the cusp of cementing his place in the history books this season.

He already owns the men’s cyclocross world championships record, and there is a cascade of records he can match and better this spring if he’s in full rampage mode.

First, he’s taking a few turns to chill in the Italian Alps.

Cool cat indeed.

Ronde and Roubaix records that could fall

If Van der Poel wins both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in 2026, he will solidify his status as the greatest cobbled classics rider in modern history by breaking or equaling several significant records.

Let’s dive in:

Up first is the Ronde van Vlaanderen, one of cycling’s most hallowed dates on the calendar.

Although it’s one of cycling’s most treasured trophies, no one’s won De Ronde more than three times in its century-plus history. Somewhat surprisingly, Eddy Merckx “only” won twice.

A victory in 2026 would give Van der Poel four wins, making him the outright record holder for the most victories in the race’s history. He currently shares the record of three wins alongside a crowded club that includes Achiel Buysse, Fiorenzo Magni, Eric Leman, Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, and Johan Museeuw.

Then there’s Paris-Roubaix.

If MVDP wins the Hell of the North in April, he would knock back several milestones at once.

First, he would equal all-time wins with a fourth chunk of granite, nabbing the record shared by Roger De Vlaeminck and Boonen.

A few records he already holds: All three of Van der Poel’s wins rank as the three fastest editions, with his 2024 win at 47.80 km/h (29.70 mph) as the record. Van der Poel also shares the record for the longest solo winning break, a 60km effort first set by Andrei Tchmil in 1994 and matched by the Dutch star in 2024.

And another “W” would make him the first rider in history to win four consecutive editions of Paris-Roubaix. He currently shares the record for three consecutive wins (2023-2025) with Francesco Moser and Octave Lapize.

And if he pulls off the Flanders-Roubaix double for a second time — MVDP first did it in 2024 — he would join Boonen and Cancellara as the only riders to win both the Flanders and Roubaix in the same year twice during their careers.

Heady company indeed.

Monument chasers

Van der Poel is also moving up on the all-time men’s monument ranking list. He’s currently tied with Rik Van Looy in seventh with eight monument victories. Just ahead are Costante Girardengo, Fausto Coppi, and Sean Kelly, each with nine career wins.

A 2026 double would level up Van der Poel to 10 monument victories, moving him into a tie for third place all-time for total monument wins with Pogačar. Winning three more would put him into a tie with Roger De Vlaeminck, second on the all-time list with 11. Merckx, with the record of 19, stands alone.

Of course, Pogačar and a host of other rivals might have something to say about that, though it might be difficult for anyone else to crash the party.

In the modern era of cycling, Van der Poel, Pogačar, and Remco Evenepoel have dominated the monuments during the past half-decade.

Since the 2020 season, Van der Poel boasts eight wins, Pogacar 10, and Evenepoel with two, meaning the top 3 monument-eaters have won 20 of the 24 monuments contested (LBL was canceled in 2020).

Since 2022, they’ve won every monument except three.

Here’s a good trivia question for the next coffee ride: name the only other winners since then.

Answer: Matej Mohorič and Dylan Van Baarle, in the 2022 editions of San Remo and Roubaix, respectively, and Jasper Philipsen in the 2024 San Remo.

Deciphering the Pogačar code

You can’t talk about monuments without making a comparison to Pogačar.

The UAE superstar can easily make the case that he’s also one of the all-time best one-day racers.

Pogačar already owns 10 monuments, and he legitimately has a chance to join the elite club of the monument sweep. Only Van Looy, Merckx, and De Vlaeminck have won all five of the mythic, long-distance races in pro racing’s 100-year-plus history.

Pogačar is close but no cigar so far in San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, but both seem a matter of time.

While Van der Poel leads in count on the cobbles, Pogačar’s depth in the hilly monuments places him third on the all-time monument list.

Some even think Pogačar could challenge Merckx’s record monument haul of 19.

Unlike the monument’s other great modern rivalry between Boonen and Cancellara, MVDP and Pogi are quite different riders.

Van der Poel is cut from the traditional classics mould, big, burly, and built for speed on the flats. Pogačar is the ultimate all-rounder whose 20-minute efforts make him a threat on the bergs of Belgium and the steeps of the Ardennes.

Van der Poel has almost no chance of winning all five, because he can’t truly challenge in the climb-heavy classics like Liège and Lombardia.

Liège, with its new design, could be a maybe, and he finished third and sixth in two career starts in La Doyenne in 2024 and 2020, respectively. He was 10th in his lone Lombardia start in 2020.

Spring classics frenzy

That’s why San Remo, Flanders, and Roubaix this spring will be so intense and wonderfully over the top.

Both are chasing history, and the classics are the big dates in 2026 — along with the Montréal road worlds — where the peloton’s best two one-day riders will be clashing in peak form with cycling’s highest honors on the line.

The stakes couldn’t be higher in terms of legacy and prestige. And it’s just this kind of pressure that brings the best out of Pogačar and Van der Poel.

The 2026 monument season is also shaping up to be more than another epic throwdown between Van der Poel and Pogačar, as there is more depth than ever across the pack in the race for the podium.

Evenepoel and a deeper Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team are targeting to recapture glory in the Ardennes, and Visma-Lease a Bike is hoping for a prayer with eternal challenger Wout van Aert.

Lidl-Trek keeps building around Mads Pedersen, and Soudal Quick-Step is pivoting back to its classics roots.

The monuments can always toss up a surprise winner, especially at races like San Remo and Roubaix. Any one of these usurpers will need to be in absolute giant-killer form to get past Van der Poel and Pogačar.

These are the best of times for monument chasers. We might never see anything like it again.

MVPD vs Pog: Monumental Chase