Roodhooft on the Van der Poel formula that helps Mathieu — and anyone who wants to follow — win at Alpecin-Premier Tech

Roodhooft said he has seen Van der Poel go from “a boy becoming a man” between his first elite world title in 2015 and his record-breaking eighth rainbow jersey in Hulst in 2026. “It’s obvious in every way — just look at the photos of the athlete he was in 2015. That was someone completely different. But the way he handles race days and pressure is different, too.”

According to Roodhooft, that is “a logical evolution” from a 19-year-old to a 31-year-old. “That’s why Mathieu can keep working harder every year, because as an athlete he’s still getting stronger. The dominance with which he has won races in recent years has therefore only increased. In Bogense in 2019 there was still a real duel, but now he rides away and it’s over.”

That Van der Poel’s hunger remains so strong — even with that level of superiority — is, in Roodhooft’s view, “down to Mathieu himself.” “But it also helps him that he’s in an environment that stays hungry. It’s not that we as a team quickly think it’s enough — but if an athlete becomes saturated at some point, an environment won’t be able to help anymore.”

Van der Poel’s world title was not the only big result for Alpecin-Premier Tech at the Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hulst. Tibor Del Grosso took silver in the elite men’s race, while Saturday had also delivered silver and bronze for Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Puck Pieterse — and, perhaps most surprisingly, an U23 world title for Aaron Dockx. Van der Poel also gave his 21-year-old team-mate a shout-out on social media.

“We have to be honest: Aaron — and we ourselves — didn’t really see that coming,” Roodhooft admitted. “We knew he was good and he has his qualities as a cyclo-cross rider, but Aaron is increasingly developing towards road racing. On Saturday he started after a training camp with good condition — and after a crash in Hoogerheide, he came to the start without pressure. Fortunately, he realised quickly enough that he could win.”

That medal haul naturally brought plenty of joy — but the familiar question about whether Van der Poel will now ‘pass the baton’ in cyclo-cross was, as expected, left unanswered. “We shouldn’t be thinking about succession too early, when there isn’t really any succession yet. Mathieu has a few days off now, and after that the focus returns to the road season — it’s as simple as that.”

The team’s medal wave at the Worlds cannot be separated from the wider development of the organisation — with Van der Poel at the centre of it. How does Roodhooft explain it?

“We’ve succeeded in growing from cyclo-cross towards the road. We’re now at WorldTour level in terms of teams that have performance, structure, staff support, and equipment in order,” he said.

“And from there, we made the movement back towards cyclo-cross — by copying and pasting what we do on the road. That’s why we have an advantage over the typical cross teams, which are usually smaller in structure and sometimes even individual. That’s where we make the difference,” said a proud team boss.

Van der Poel’s crucial role — past and present — in the team’s growth was emphasised again. “As an organisation, we can claim credit for building a structure where we know: if we put talent into it that wants to work, then it is almost certain that, at some point, it will pay off.”

It is a great position to be in — but to keep the ‘Van der Poel formula’ successful, the mindset has to remain relentlessly competitive. “The certainty that it will work again in the spring isn’t there for anyone — not even for us. You have to be aware of that, and that’s why you should enjoy these moments. But tomorrow we’ll already be busy with what comes next.”

Van der Poel sets the example by working incredibly hard for his success, without ever easing off. “I feel like he has started to enjoy the hard work more. I think he’s getting more and more pleasure from the preparation and the road towards it. But you can’t say it changed at one particular moment — it’s just been a process.”

“Mathieu came to us as a boy, and we’ve seen him change as a person. That also changes how you deal with each other, because he’s an adult now,” said Roodhooft. He finished by stressing that the talents behind Van der Poel should be inspired by their leader, but also with an important nuance: “They don’t necessarily have to do exactly what Mathieu does — but riders do have to want to come along.”

Bram van der Ploeg ( X: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])