Mathieu van der Poel joins World Championships preparation of Greg Van Avermaet: 'Getting Mathieu into triathlon'

That Mathieu van der Poel is a sportsman at heart, we already knew. In addition to his accomplishments on the bike, he used to be good at soccer, and other sports like running and golf also go well for him. Training buddy Greg Van Avermaet, preparing for a triathlon, got him into the water on Monday.

So Van der Poel dove into the water. "Getting Mathieu van der Poel into triathlon," was Van Avermaet' s Strava headline accompanying the activity. The 2016 Olympic cycling champion swam two kilometers himself and did so in 40 minutes.

Van Avermaet and Van der Poel have been spotted cycling and running in recent weeks. After his active cycling career, the Belgian ex-pro is not sitting still: at the beginning of October he rode the World Gravel Championship and he is currently preparing himself for a World Triathlon Championship.

Van Avermaet already won a triathlon in Girona, Spain, two weeks after his retirement as a cycling pro in 2023, under the watchful eye of German legend Jan Frodeno.

Last year he also delivered good performances in Knokke and Nice, where he qualified for next Sunday's World Championships in Marbella.

The Belgian is competing there in the 70.3 category, which means he must swim 1,900 meters, cycle 90 kilometers and finish by running a 21.1-kilometer half marathon.