Under the Spanish sun, van der Poel trains for the cyclo-cross winter, and isn’t neglecting the running part either

Van der Poel started his road season in the Samyn Classic and immediately triumphed in the Belgian semi-classic. After victories in Milan-Sanremo and the E3 Saxo Classic, he finished on the podium of the Tour of Flanders, before striking again in Paris-Roubaix, claiming his third cobbled victory in a row.

After a break of almost two months, made possible by a crash in a mountain bike race, Van der Poel returned to the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he rode a great race. It turned out to be a prelude to the Tour de France, where he won the second stage, wore the yellow jersey for several days, and rode a hugely aggressive race.

Due to pneumonia, he had to withdraw from La Grande Boucle after two weeks, forcing him to take a break. But after a short build-up, Van der Poel was able to make time for the Renewi Tour. In the Dutch-Belgian race, he won the third stage to the Muur van Geraardsbergen, but in the general classification, he just fell short of the extremely strong Arnaud De Lie.

The next goal was the Mountain Bike World Championships, but when that ended in disappointment with a 29th place, it became clear that the Dutchman from Alpecin-Deceuninck needed a break. He took a vacation, leaving his bike behind for a while. But as a cyclo-cross legend, you know that winter will also be important. That's why Van der Poel recently started training again, even in the early hours of the morning.

The superstar is now back on the Costa Blanca, his regular place of residence in Spain. He completed a few training sessions around Calpe, together with his buddy and Belgian racing driver Laurens Vanthoor. These are simple rides for Van der Poel: last Tuesday, the duo rode 98 kilometers at an average speed of 31 kilometers per hour, as can be seen on Strava. But kilometers are kilometers!

As a cyclo-cross rider, however, you need to be able to do more than just cycle fast. Your bike handling has to be good, but the running part should certainly not be underestimated either. The seven-time world champion knows this, too, which is why he squeezed in another tough running session. He shared the data on Instagram: 13 kilometers in just over an hour. The average heart rate? 111 beats per minute. At that pace...