Cyclo-cross and Classics star Mathieu van der Poel says he is enjoying riding – and winning – more as he gets older, and finds himself able to reflect on his achievements more than ever.
Now 30, the Alpecin-Premier Tech star was speaking at the weekend following his win at the Zonhoven cyclo-cross UCI World Cup round in Belgium – his fifth World Cup victory this season, and ninth consecutive win on the trot. He has won nine CX races from nine this season, after eight from eight last year.
"As I get older I reflect on it more and more," he told Dutch outlet Wielerflits.
"Everything is fleeting. It'll be the same for me," he said, alluding to the transient nature of a professional cycling career. "The older I get, the more I enjoy it. I certainly don't take it for granted. I'll keep working hard for it, and hopefully, many more great victories will follow."
Dutch rider Van der Poel has looked untouchable this cyclo-cross season, and underlined that dominance by taking an immediate and significant lead at Zonhoven and, despite having to ride some distance on a double flat, going on to take a 4 second win over team-mate Tibor Del Grosso.
He now leads the UCI World Cup overall standings, and while it wasn't something he had originally planned to do, is now looking at a possible overall victory. It would be his first win in the competition since 2018.
"It's looking good. I haven't made it a goal for the season, though…" he said. "It's still possible to win the general classification this way, so we'll see."
He was perhaps reflective because of his great rival, Wout van Aert, ending his 'cross season early due to injury.
The UCI World Cup series will be followed by the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hulst, Netherlands at the start of February, where he will attempt to win a record-breaking eighth world title. That is before he gets back to the business of attempting to fend off Tadej Pogačar's attempts to beat him on home Classics turf.
The Slovenian has declared his desire to win at both Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, which would involve dethroning Van der Poel, who is the most recent winner of both.
Milan-San Remo – nicknamed La Primavera (spring) though often anything but – is the first of these two dates, coming on March 21 and a trifling seven weeks after the end of the cyclo-cross season. Paris-Roubaix marks the climax of the cobbled Classics three weeks later on April 12.
