Mathieu van der Poel just pulled off possibly the most sensational win, ever, at one of the cyclings most iconic finish lines. The Dutchman absolutely emptied himself to not only drop world champion and Tour winner Tadej Pogačar but also to hold off the hard-charging peloton, solo, and win on Champs-Élysées. It was thrilling stuff. More than a Tour de France stage win, it was a moment van der Poel admitted he’d dreamt of for 12 months since missing out last year.
So, how does van der Poel follow that up?
Chasing rainbows: Dreams in dirt
Well, he’s already switched gears. Or, er, switched bikes. The Alpecin-Premier Tech racer’s been spotted on his usual training grounds around Livigno, but now on Canyon’s Lux World Cup cross country race bike. Not for fun or a break from the road, but because world championships are coming up in just a few weeks time.
Because the one other race that van der Poel has dreamt of, and told us press nerds he’s still dreaming of, is the mountain bike world championships. Well, worlds and Olympic gold in cross country mountain biking. But only one of those is on the schedule this year. And, with MvdP’s checkered results at XC worlds in the past, some kind of result this year is probably key to the Dutchman being able to seriously focus on his Olympic goals in L.A. in two years time.
XC worlds is the last remaining rainbow in a trio of worlds titles that he’s stated he’d like to win in his career. Cyclocross is well taken care of, several times. He’s also won road worlds in a dramatic race in Glasgow.
“After the Tour, the full focus goes to mountain biking. I’ll then have about a month to prepare myself for the World Championships.”
Van der Poel’s talked about mountain bikes before in the past. After a few years of racing several World Cups, the last few seasons he’s seems to talk about riding mountain bikes more than actually riding them. For those of us that have been waiting, patiently or impatiently, for the Dutch racer to make a proper return to dirt (not mud), it’s exciting to see him putting in a proper few weeks of preparation ahead of 2026 world championships in Val di Sole, Italy.
That should include one chance to actually line up for a race. The World Cup resumes from its summer break with a downhill and cross country round in Les Gets mid-August before worlds kick off in Val di Sole. Mathieu van der Poel will fight for the rainbow bands on August 30.
Tadej Pogacar, here with teammate Brandon McNulty during the 2025 Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal, will be waiting for van der Poel in Montréal. Image: James Bunga
Chasing rainbows Pt. 2: From mountain bikes to Montreal
From Val di Sole, it’s a quick switch between bikes and continents for van der Poel. His plans are, reportedly, to hit the GP Québec and GP de Montréal before 2026 world championships in Montréal at the end of September.
That would give him slightly less than a month to switch from mountain bikes back to more familiar ground on the dirt.
If he can manage to win both, which would be a spectacular accomplishment, van der Poel would come close to matching a few similar feats by Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. The French woman won four world championship titles in three months back in 2023 (and, within a year, had added an Olympic gold). A decade earlier, PFP became the only rider to hold three major world titles, cyclocross, road and mountain bike, within a 12-month span.
But winning road and mountain bike worlds within a month? That would be quite the feat.