‘I just wasn’t good enough’ – Mathieu van der Poel rues another year where promising mountain bike form fades for World Championships

Jumping away from the road and chasing that elusive UCI Mountain Bike World Championships with just one race for the season under the belt was never going to be an easy mission, but Mathieu van der Poel had delivered every reason to hope when he rocketed straight to the World Cup Cross-Country Olympic podium in Les Gets.

Just the week before the rainbow race the Dutch Alpecin-Premier Tech had moved seamlessly through the field and taken part in a two-way battle for the victory. It wasn’t just the form that had taken him to first in the Tour de France on the Champs-Élysées that was clearly evident, but also a degree of comfort on the challenging terrain that boded well for the all important appointment at Val di Sole just a week away.

“Those bad results are indeed piling up a bit now,” Van der Poel told reporters after the event according to a report on NU.nl. “But last year I could feel it coming that I wasn’t 100 percent at the World Championships. I had expected a lot more from it this time. But I can’t change anything about it now. Unfortunately, days like this happen too.”

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Now, though, he’ll be hoping they don’t come again for the rainbow jersey battles ahead, either as he continues the pursuit of a mountain bike title in the years to come or the one he will be facing far sooner, at the end of September in Montreal on the road.

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