![\"MVDP](\"https:\/\/procyclinguk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/MVDP-CX-Schedule-800x1024.avif\"\/)
<\/p>\nMathieu van der Poel will begin the defence of his rainbow jersey in as little as two weeks\u2019 time, after Alpecin-Deceuninck published his long-awaited 2025\u201326 cyclo-cross calendar on Friday evening. The schedule confirms a busy block of racing through Christmas and New Year, all geared towards his bid for an unprecedented eighth elite world title at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hulst on 1 February.<\/p>\n
Early start, with Namur pencilled in<\/p>\n
Van der Poel is preparing to return slightly earlier than last winter. Provided he receives the all-clear in training over the next few days, he will line up at the Namur World Cup on 14 December. Should he need extra time, his opening race will shift to Antwerp on 20 December.<\/p>\n
Alpecin-Deceuninck described Namur \u2013 and the Benidorm World Cup in January \u2013 as \u201cprovisional\u201d, noting that the former depends on his immediate race readiness, while the latter will hinge on how his preparation for the spring road season evolves.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman raced eight times last winter, starting in Zonhoven on 22 December and winning every race he entered. This year\u2019s programme again features 13 dates, but with a more intensive December, including three World Cups and back-to-back X2O Badkamers Trofee rounds around Christmas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Building toward Hulst \u2013 and history<\/p>\n
February\u2019s World Championships in Hulst will be the culmination of his winter. Van der Poel is already tied with Erik De Vlaeminck on seven world titles. A win on home soil would move him into clear, unprecedented territory.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman has dominated the discipline since his junior years, but much of the intrigue surrounding this season now focuses on when he will first meet long-time rival Wout van Aert. The Belgian has confirmed he will return to \u2018cross, but is yet to publish his programme. Indications suggest he will race before Christmas.
Tom Pidcock, meanwhile, will not contest the cyclo-cross season, removing the possibility of the trio sharing a start line this winter.<\/p>\n
Mathieu van der Poel\u2019s 2025\u201326 cyclo-cross programme<\/p>\n
14 December \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Namur (TBC)<\/p>\n
20 December \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Antwerp<\/p>\n
21 December \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Koksijde<\/p>\n
22 December \u2013 X2O Trofee, Hofstade<\/p>\n
26 December \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Gavere<\/p>\n
29 December \u2013 X2O Trofee, Loenhout<\/p>\n
1 January \u2013 X2O Trofee, Baal<\/p>\n
2 January \u2013 Exact Cross, Mol<\/p>\n
4 January \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Zonhoven<\/p>\n
18 January \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Benidorm (TBC)<\/p>\n
24 January \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Maasmechelen<\/p>\n
25 January \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Hoogerheide<\/p>\n
1 February \u2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, Hulst<\/p>\n
With his programme now confirmed, the countdown begins. A winter with Van der Poel rarely disappoints \u2013 and if all goes to plan, this could be the one that rewrites cyclo-cross history once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mathieu van der Poel will begin the defence of his rainbow jersey in as little as two weeks\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,80956,82,139973],"class_list":{"0":"post-314227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-cyclocross","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-van-der-poel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}