National coach De Knegt would understand if Van der Poel takes year off: 'He can't do anything low profile'

Mathieu van der Poel has left a crushing impression in the three crosses he has ridden so far this winter. Even national coach Gerben de Knegt is impressed with the class the Dutchman from Alpecin-Deceuninck has displayed so far, he told IDLProcycling in Antwerp.

Our opening question on the Scheldt, where Tibor del Grosso and Fem van Empel had just ensured Dutch success: has De Knegt already ordered an extra refrigerator in Tábor to keep the champagne cold? A smile cannot suppress the choice lord, but: ''We have to do it first. With the women, we are in very good shape, of course. That can hardly go wrong, but I always keep saying: at a World Cup, it always has to be first. But I agree with you, in all categories we are in very good shape.'

Van der Poel is currently lord and master among the elite men, De Knegt also observes. You can't say much else about it than that Mathieu is just very good. It all looked like that, but you still have to show it. I don't think Wout van Aert is at his best yet, so I hope he can pick up a few more teeth. Now that he and Tomechter are not competing in the World Championships, Mathieu is a real favorite," he said, looking ahead to the title race in the Czech Republic;

Is De Knegt then sorry that Van Aert and Pidcock are not competing in the World Cup? ''It is a shame that they are not competing. I was listening to a podcast by Thijs Zonneveld this week, in which he said that the best hour of winter no longer exists. Thijs was right about that. Everyone looks forward to the duel, always,' said the national coach, who refuses to declare Van der Poel the world champion. 'The World Championship also has to be ridden. Mathieu can also have bad luck or something like that, but of course that beautiful duel from the last World Championship remains. With a very nice ending for us, that's what people come to the cross country for.'

Van der Poel won his first World Cup in Antwerp, making him the fourth Dutchman to record a win in that classification this winter. With Pim Ronhaar, Lars van der Haar, Joris Nieuwenhuis and also Ryan Kamp, the Netherlands has a strong selection across the board. Last weekend was even the first weekend in a very long time that there was no Belgian on the podium, which is nice!'With Pim, Ryan, Joris, Lars and guys like Tibor with us, we can go on for years. We are doing well.'

World champion Van der Poel recently revealed that in the future he might even skip a full winter in the field. 'I would understand if he would skip a year,' De Knegt let it be known. 'The guy can't do anything low profile, everything he does has a camera on it. So I could imagine if he wanted to do nothing for a few months,' the national coach is honest despite his interests.