Good news for ‘cross fans! Mathieu van der Poel will kick off his cyclocross winter sooner than previously expected. The world champion has now confirmed that he’ll line up at the Namur World Cup on Dec. 14.

That turns what had been a “maybe, we’ll see” on his calendar into a firm commitment. After weeks of uncertainty around his winter debut, it’s suddenly just a matter of days before he’s back in the mud.
Alpecin–Deceuninck announced it at press event announcing some big news: Canadian company Premier Tech is coming onboard as a cosponsor. Other CanCon includes Hugo Houle making the switch from N2N (the team formerly known as Israel – Premier Tech) to Alpecin – Premier Tech in 2026.

As far as the Dutchman, the team said Van der Poel’s most recent training block removed any hesitation. “He felt ready after the latest sessions, and that cleared the final doubt in last week’s provisional plan,” the squad explained.

Team manager Christoph Roodhooft said, “He’s in good shape. The restart was a bit harder than usual because he took a longer rest, but now everything is falling into place. He feels the training is paying off and knows he’s ready to race again,” Roodhooft said.

Van der Poel had kept both Namur and Benidorm marked with question marks as he balanced his prep for the spring Classics. Namur is now confirmed, though the team hasn’t ruled out adjusting the rest of his ’cross schedule if they need to protect his road build-up. One thing is almost certain though–he will be lining up for the world championships in Hulst, The Netherlands. He is tied for the all-time win record (7) with Erik De Vlaeminck, and could make history with another rainbow jersey.

Van der Poel’s rival, Wout van Aert has also announced his ‘cross season. Similar to last year, he’s doing a shortened campaign–but hasn’t ruled out racing the worlds again in 2026. In 2025 he decided at the eleventh hour to compete, where he finished second.

To watch the UCI World CX Cup in Namur, head on over to Flobikes.com. If you miss it, don’t fret: Canadian Cycling Magazine will have a full report after.

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