The Dutchman\u2019s Alpecin-Deceuninck team revealed Friday that he will compete in up to 13 cyclocross races this winter, with the first potentially coming in two weeks\u2019 time.<\/p>\n
That is the Namur World Cup, although his squad has indicated it is possible Van der Poel could opt to instead start one week later in the World Cup race in Antwerp.<\/p>\n
One other fixture remains to be confirmed, namely the Benidorm World Cup on January 18.<\/p>\n
His program will end with the world championships in Hulst on February 1, where he will be aiming for an outright record of eight wins.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s that got to do with Poga\u010dar?<\/p>\n
A lot, as it turns out.<\/p>\n
Is less more?
\n![\"Mathieu](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2206391643.jpg\"\/)
Poga\u010dar tried time and again to drop Mathieu van der Poel in this year\u2019s Milan-San Remo but couldn\u2019t quite snap the elastic (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
In this year\u2019s edition of the race, Van der Poel was the only rider able to contain the world champion\u2019s attacks on the Cipressa and the Poggio. He was slightly gapped at times but always managed to return, and was able to put in his own dig on the latter climb close to the finish.<\/p>\n
He duly outsprinted the multiple Tour winner at the end, with Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) able to snag second after rejoining the other two close to the line.<\/p>\n
The difficulty for Poga\u010dar is that the course is not hard enough to capitalize on his main strength, namely being a far better climber than anyone else in the sport.<\/p>\n
That in turn means he has to be in absolute peak shape to be able to comprehensively drop Van der Poel in La Primavera.<\/p>\n
Instead the latter looks set to once again be closer to his own best form when the race takes place on March 21.<\/p>\n
As detailed in this recent Velo analysis<\/a>, Van der Poel had 16 days of racing in his legs prior to lining out in Milan last March.<\/p>\n These included eight days of cyclocross competition, and eight in road events.<\/p>\n In contrast Poga\u010dar had exactly half that in his legs.<\/p>\n And next time around?<\/p>\n Well, Van der Poel\u2019s intention to compete up to 13 times on the cyclocross bike should put him even further ahead of where he was last spring. Add in the inevitable road races and it is likely his competition days will be 20 or higher.<\/p>\n Early indications are that Poga\u010dar will have a very different approach. Respected La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Ciro Scognamiglio spoke to the Slovenian, and reported that his first race will likely be Strade Bianche on March 7.<\/p>\n That\u2019s two weeks later than his 2025 debut, giving him even less time to fine tune his fitness through competition.<\/p>\n Being so under-raced compared to his rival is a big, big gamble, particularly if Van der Poel times things right.<\/p>\n And remember \u2013 the Dutchman is aiming for San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix. In contrast Poga\u010dar is trying to hold his form all the way until Li\u00e8ge, making the balancing act all the more difficult for him. <\/p>\n Looking at the specifics So what exactly is Van der Poel planning?<\/p>\n According to Alpecin-Deceuninck\u2019s social post Friday, he will undertake what it terms:<\/p>\n \u201c13 race with the World Championships as the big finale!\u201d<\/p>\n It then clarified that the schedule could be reduced by two.<\/p>\n \u201cImportant note: Namur and Benidorm remain provisional. Mathieu will test in the coming days whether he\u2019ll be race-read by 14 December (Namur), while Benidorm will depend on the progress of his road-season preparation.\u201d<\/p>\n Either way, it\u2019s more than his eight-race schedule of last season.<\/p>\n Drilling down into that list, it comprises eight World Cup races, as well as three X20 Trofee events.<\/p>\n The baker\u2019s dozen is completed by the Exact Cross on January 2 and that potential all-time cyclocross world championship record on February 1.<\/p>\n Big cross rival Wout Van Aert is yet to announce his own schedule, but he is thought likely to only ride a small number of cross events.<\/p>\n Instead Van der Poel\u2019s biggest CX rival this time around may turn out to be Thibaut Nys, who dominated last Sunday\u2019s World Cup race in T\u00e1bor.<\/p>\n As for Poga\u010dar, their first clash will come in March at the earliest, unless the Slovenian radically shakes up his racing schedule<\/a> to guarantee he is in absolute peak shape for Milan San Remo.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Mathieu van der Poel\u2019s cyclocross schedule for 2025\/2026 season:<\/p>\n December 14: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Namur (TBC)
\n![\"Silver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2197247338-scaled.jpg\"\/)
Van der Poel defeated Wout Van Aert and Thibau Nys in February to take his seventh world championship title (Photo: Luc Claessen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
December 20: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Antwerp
December 21: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Koksijde
December 22: X2O Trofee, Hofstade
December 26: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Gavere
December 29: X2O Trofee, Loenhout
January 1: X2O Trofee, Baal
January 2: Exact Cross, Mol
January 4: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Zonhoven
January 18: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Benidorm (TBC)
January 24: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Maasmechelen
January 25: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup, Hoogerheide
February 1: UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, Hulst<\/p>\n