Mathieu van der Poel has suggested that he will target the Mountain Bike World Championships in 2025 as he targets a rainbow jersey in a fourth discipline.
The Dutchman collected his eighth elite world title on Sunday when he claimed victory at the Gravel World Championships in Leuven. He has won the cyclocross world title six times, while he was road world champion in Glasgow in 2023.
Although Van der Poel managed to claim a bronze medal on a tough course in Zurich at last week’s road Worlds, he is less convinced of his prospects on next year’s arduous Kigali circuit, which features over 5,000m of climbing.
Van der Poel told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that he might instead focus his 2025 rainbow ambitions on the Mountain Bike Worlds in Crans Montana in early September.
He was European cross-country champion in 2019, but a crash ruined his bid for Olympic gold in Tokyo. After some deliberation, he opted to race on the road at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“I don’t know if it’s worth going to Africa,” Van der Poel told AD. “I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I really want that mountain bike world title. It’s become a bit difficult because road racing has taken priority.
"It depends on how I can plan the season exactly, but it would be great if I could finally make it a real goal.”
Van der Poel soloed to the gravel rainbow jersey on Sunday, coming home more than a minute clear of Florian Vermeersch (Belgium). His 2024 successes include a sixth cyclocross world title as well as victories at the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and E3 Harelbeke.
The 29-year-old also placed on the podium of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but he will not line out at Il Lombardia this weekend and he has confirmed that the cobbled Classics will remain the centrepiece of his spring campaign in the years ahead.
