After winning a record eighth UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships elite title, Mathieu van der Poel was in a reflective mood, suggesting he might skip a season of CX.
The Dutchman, 31, stormed to victory in Hulst on Sunday ahead of his compatriot Tibor Del Grosso and Thibau Nys of Belgium.
However, much of his interview post-race was dedicated not to the feat of beating Erik De Vlaeminck’s record, but to his future in the sport. This winter, Van der Poel won all 13 of the races he started, winning the UCI World Cup in the process, but it might not always be this way.
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“Maybe it’s not a bad idea to skip one winter because to be here it’s the first peak of my season always, not only physically, but also mentally,” Van der Poel said post-race.
“This is a day when I want to be in top shape, 90% is not enough or would not be enough for me to be at the start line here.
“That’s why I’ve started to think about different approaches to the road season. You’re always thinking about two things: trying to be the best possible shape at these World Championships and also the road season is not so far away at this point.”
On the road, Alpecin-Premier Tech‘s Van der Poel has managed to be competitive in the Classics after his CX season; last season, he won Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix and went on to win a stage and wear yellow at the Tour de France in July.
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However, his race days are lower than some direct rivals, a tactic which seems to work for him, but there might be a change in the future. For the past two years, Van der Poel has raced just 41 times on the road, and has never gone above 46. Meanwhile, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) raced 65 times last season, and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 73 times.
“It worked for me in the past, but you always have to think about improvement and doing better than last year,” Van der Poel said.
“I’m getting closer to the end than I was to the beginning of my career. It’s something I think about. I still have some goals left, but I also know I will not be able to tick off all of them.
“In the back of your mind, you’re thinking about Flanders and Roubaix in my case. Those are the races I could write history as well. I’ve still got a couple of years so I’ll do everything I can to make it work.
“If I know I won’t do cyclo-cross, I will also do a different road programme. I will then race longer on the road and start earlier on the road. I also found some peace in the relaxing moments in Spain. I think I can do it without cyclo-cross.”
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