Van der Poel towards the XCO World Championship: his words after the solid World Cup in Les Gets

Mathieu Van der Poel’s goal for this season finale is clear: winning the Mountain Bike World Championship. Specifically, the XCO – Olympic cross-country – the same discipline where he has done well in the past but where, in Tokyo, he had a disastrous crash on the very first lap.

That’s why the Dutchman returned to MTB racing at the World Cup in Les Gets and, despite starting around 40th position, managed to finish sixth. An excellent result, considering his lack of race rhythm and the fact that the World Championship is still two weeks away – time he will use to fine-tune his condition in order not to make any mistakes in Valais, the location of the rainbow race.

Here are his words to Wielerflits after the race, followed by those to NOS, where he added a few more details:

“With a little more luck, I could have achieved even more. Everything that could go wrong in the first lap did. I made every possible mistake and ended up stuck behind riders who were struggling. It was a pity to start like that. Then, I was able to catch the front group, but I was losing ground on the descents. That’s where I lost the race. I felt good, even though I was missing that spark you need to do well in mountain biking.

That’s why I chose to keep my own pace, and as a result, I was yo-yoing at the back of the lead group. In the end, I saw that my position was safe, so I enjoyed it. Definitely. The main goal was simply to stay on the bike… I managed that. I had fun and felt like I was improving lap after lap. I can be happy with my race.”

To NOS, he then revealed:

“I had committed myself right from the start. I realized I still needed that specific kind of work. I was able to hold a good rhythm, but I never really felt like I could push beyond my limits. \[…] Looking back, you think there could have been more. Sometimes I could have been a bit bolder and just gone for it.”

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