The MTB World Cup continues without the world champion, because he's racing the Giro d'Italia

The MTB World Cup continues this weekend in Nové Město — without Mathieu van der Poel, although the organisers had briefly suggested otherwise. Both Tom Pidcock and Puck Pieterse are lining up however. Also absent is defending world champion Alan Hatherly, who is racing the Giro d'Italia for Jayco AlUla. He spoke to IDL Pro Cycling about combining road and off-road.

The 30-year-old South African has been a well-known name in mountain biking for years, but at the start of 2025 — as reigning MTB world champion — he made the surprising decision to join Jayco AlUla on the road. He immediately finished sixth overall at the AlUla Tour on debut, performed well in several stage races later in the season, and then became MTB world champion again in Crans-Montana.

This season he finished sixth in the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial and third at the Settimana Ciclistica Coppi e Bartali, and he has been excellent on the climbs at the Giro too. The question remains: why did he make the switch to the road so late in his career? "It was mainly about stepping out of my comfort zone," the man from Durban explains.

"I had basically spent my whole career doing mountain biking, so at a certain point I started asking myself what I needed to do to take the next step. The most logical step for me was to try road racing as well," he explains. "So far I am really enjoying the process, and I hope that a Grand Tour — as one of the biggest events in the world — can contribute to that."

"I went into the Giro without expectations but with an open mind. The team put no pressure on me beforehand either," says Hatherly, which means he has had to miss the first MTB World Cup round in South Korea and now Nové Město. "But Korea was chaos, ha. I was happy not to be there," he laughs about the muddy race in Yongpyong.

"After the Giro I'll focus straight back on mountain biking, and hopefully defend my world title in Val di Sole," he says. "After that I'll return to the road, but I'm really enjoying the switch. The way I'm approaching it now constantly gives me fresh energy. If you do one discipline all year round, I'm not sure you keep the fire burning."

The South African — who does not speak Dutch — will likely face Mathieu van der Poel at the World Championships, as Van der Poel has long been eager to win the MTB rainbow jersey. "It's good for the sport that Mathieu takes part and has real ambitions. I think he's in a similar position to me — you're looking for challenges and trying to grow."

"The combination works well for him too, but the Worlds hasn't really come off for him yet on the MTB side. If luck is a little more on his side, it could happen," Hatherly analyses. "His primary focus is on the road now and mountain biking is something he adds on, but if you want to be successful you have to make choices at some point."

"I notice myself that it's hard to be at your absolute best in both — there's always a compromise somewhere," says the Jayco AlUla rider, who describes Van der Poel as a great guy. "I know him from the races and we always chat when we're racing together."