National coach De Knegt lowers expectations for Van der Poel: "Let’s wait and see how his MTB return goes"

Van der Poel, who was spotted on the course in Nove Mesto for the first time on Thursday, will ease off again after this weekend’s race as he shifts his focus toward the Tour de France. Once the three-week race through France is behind him, his attention will return to the mountain bike, with the World Championships as the ultimate goal.

On Wednesday, De Knegt announced the Dutch junior and U23 selections on behalf of the KNWU and also briefly discussed both Puck Pieterse and Van der Poel. “In the elite women’s category, Puck can show off her rainbow jersey as world champion and of course race to win. Anne Terpstra and Anne Tauber are also podium contenders. In the elite men’s race, we’ll have to wait and see how Van der Poel performs in his return to mountain biking,” said the national coach.

Speaking to Sporza, Gerben De Knegt went into more detail. "From what I’ve heard, he wants to see where he stands in Nove Mesto. He had the time now to fit it in. It can’t be a major goal in itself because there just hasn’t been enough time to prepare," said the Dutch national off-road coach.

At the World Championships, De Knegt is obviously hoping for a strong Van der Poel. "He told me that the World Championships in Switzerland are definitely a goal," he confirmed. As for how Van der Poel plans to build toward that after the Tour de France, De Knegt remains in the dark. "I don’t know. He hasn’t told me anything about that."

Van der Poel won’t be starting on the front row. "There’s a rule that says a rider ranked in the top ten of another cycling discipline is allowed to start from position 33, which puts him on the fifth row. That applies to Nove Mesto and also to the World Championships. That’s probably where he’ll be starting. I don’t see how he could collect enough points in just a few World Cups to move further up. The riders on the front rows already have a lot more points," De Knegt explained.