Mathieu van der Poel's 2027 Calendar | What will the path to 2028 Olympics look like?

Last January, van der Poel was crowned world cyclocross champion for the eighth time in Hulst, the Netherlands. This makes him the sole record holder, so the question is justified: will we see Van der Poel in cyclocross this winter? Analysts are torn between hope and fear, as the sport’s biggest star has been facing the prospect of a winter without cyclocross for several years now.

What makes that decision even more plausible—aside from securing the record of eight world titles—is that van der Poel and his girlfriend Roxanne are expecting their first child in January 2027. A very short cyclocross season peaking at the World Championships—as van der Poel has done in recent winters—would therefore fall right in the middle of the baby’s birth.

On the road, there will generally be few surprises in Van der Poel’s schedule. He has stated on several occasions in recent years that the spring classics are his main annual goal. In recent seasons, the Dutchman has always added the Tour de France to his schedule in the summer, which, given the sponsorship interests at Alpecin-Premier Tech, is of course not surprising.

Still, there are a few gaps in the superstar’s list of achievements, which he hopes to fill a bit more in 2027. For example, after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2026, we’re still missing In Flanders Fields ( previously called Gent-Wevelgem), a race in which he finished second in 2024. Most of the other major classics have been checked off the list, though Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy remain out of his reach.

The other major titles still missing from his list of achievements are the Vuelta a España and the European Cycling Championships. Van der Poel has never competed in the Vuelta a España, because the Tour often took priority, and two Grand Tours in a single year—along with cyclocross and the spring classics—is simply too much. Mountain biking was also often part of the mix, but more on that later...

Van der Poel competed in the European Championships in 2018, when he finished third. He also competed in 2024, but that race ended in a bunch sprint. The European Championships in Denmark in 2027 seem geared toward sprinters, and the World Championships in France toward climbers, so we can probably rule those out. Still, it’s probably nice for Van der Poel to have a few goals left to aim for in the coming years, right?

In the choices van der Poel makes for cyclocross and road racing, mountain biking will be more crucial than ever in 2027 and 2028. The Dutchman has regularly competed in mountain biking in recent years, but at the World Championships and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (with that famous plank...) he wasn’t very successful. Looking ahead to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, van der Poel is determined to really focus on mountain biking.

That means he’ll likely be competing in a more comprehensive mountain bike schedule as early as 2027 to earn UCI points for a good starting position. He also has the advantage of his road racing status, as it allows him to start further up the field in the Short Track races, enabling him to rack up points quickly.

There’s a pretty good chance that Van der Poel will already be mountain biking after the classics, so the question is whether the Tour de France fits into his schedule. Maybe he’ll compete, and then drop out early. A debut in the Vuelta a España—and, by extension, winning a stage and wearing the leader’s jersey, as he did in the Giro and the Tour—seems out of the question in 2027 and 2028.

It seems like it would be difficult to time it with the highlight of the MTB season during the same period, but: Van der Poel also wants to race the road race at the Olympics in LA, so who knows—it might turn out to be an interesting puzzle...