Well, would you look at that? Cyclocross world champ\u2013and UCI CX World Cup leader, Mathieu van der Poel, will be pinning a number on in Espa\u00f1a after all.<\/p>\n
On Friday, van der Poel said he would not be racing the World Cup in Benidorm On Sunday. When the Alpecin\u2013Premier Tech rider planned out his winter programme back in November, it was a maybe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will decide based on whether I need an extra \u2018cross race during my training camp in Spain or prefer road training,\u201d Van der Poel said according to Het Laaste Nieuws<\/a>. The Alpecin \u2013 Premier Tech rider said he would prefer to keep banging out some big miles in Spain. He\u2019s been there just under two weeks doing some nutty riders with his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I really need the endurance training, which I had to miss last month with that crossing, in anticipation of the classic spring on the road,\u201d he said on Friday<\/a>. \u201cSo a lot of hours are right, with the necessary breaks here and there in between. See you in Maasmechelen, guys!\u201d<\/p>\n However, it seems you can\u2019t keep the fiery spirit of a competitive dude like MvdP down.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a strong week of training, the urge to race was simply too great. Our world champion will defend his leader\u2019s jersey in the World Cup,\u201d Van der Poel\u2019s team said on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n We will also be seeing a different kit for the Dutchman. He is currently leading the World Cup standings by ten points ahead of Thibau Nys. Since the World Cup leader\u2019s jersey usurps the rainbow (similar to a leader\u2019s jersey in stage race) he won\u2019t be wearing rainbows, for once.<\/p>\n And as far as CanCrossCon goes, Cameron Jette and Cody Scott will be there in the elite men\u2019s race. Rhett Bates will be racing the under-23 race..<\/p>\n Lucinda Brand, Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado, Inge van der Heijden, Aniek van Alphen, and Zoe B\u00e4ckstedt are heading to Spain. Puck Pieterse will not, however, after a nasty crash at the Dutch national champs. Rafaelle Carrier is also skipping the race. Sidney McGill and Nico Knoll, however, will be racing in Spain.<\/p>\n To watch the elite women\u2019s and men\u2019s races, tune into FloBikes.com<\/a>. Canadian Cycling Magazine will have reports on all of the races right after, too.<\/p>\n Affiliate links present. Canadian Cycling Magazine may receive commissions<\/p>\n