Van der Poel jokes, but stays serious about main goal in final MTB test before World Championships

In an in-depth video via Alpecin-Deceuninck's official channels, we saw Van der Poel looking ahead to his return to MTB on Saturday evening. We only saw the Dutchman in action this year in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic) in May, but he did not finish that race due to a crash. The last mountain bike race before Nove Mesto dates back to 2023, when he participated in the test event for the Olympic Games in Paris, following a failed World Championships in Glasgow. However, he would never ride that race.

Van der Poel has always said that he wants to become world champion on the mountain bike again, a title that is missing from his many achievements in the field, as well as the rainbow jersey he won on the road in Glasgow in 2023. In Crans-Montana, he will make a third attempt in that regard, as Van der Poel also competed in a World Championship on the MTB in Lenzerheide in 2018. He finished third, which only fueled his dream of a world title for the years to come. At the 2021 Games in Tokyo, a removed board in the race and subsequent crash prevented him from winning a medal.

Despite all the setbacks, Van der Poel proved, with World Cup victories and a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships, that he has what it takes. In Les Gets, France, he will start his journey towards World Championship success. “I arrived here on Wednesday and have already spent some time on the mountain bike and on the course to get the feeling back a little. As always, it's nice to be back; it's been since 2019 since I was here in Les Gets. The course has remained pretty much the same, with only a few changes.”

" love it, even though it's always tricky because you can feel the altitude a bit, even though it's not really at high altitude,” continued Van der Poel, who still remembers exactly how he rode in Les Gets in 2019. “The last time I was here, I really struggled in the race on Sunday because I was preparing for the World Championships on the road.” He finished sixteenth, after winning the Short Race on Friday. Van der Poel skipped that short and explosive warm-up for every World Cup race last Friday.

After crashing in Nove Mesto, he didn't compete in any mountain bike races in 2024, and didn't perform too well at the World Championships in Glasgow in 2023, Van der Poel has an important goal in Les Gets: "For once, to stay on the bike, haha. I mainly want to finish the race and get a full race under my belt. That will be useful for the World Championships in two weeks. I won't be at the level I need to be in two weeks, but I do want to come away from this race feeling good and go home with positive thoughts."

After the weekend in France, Van der Poel's route to the World Championships is already mapped out. "After Les Gets, I'll go home for a bit, but then I'll head to Crans Montana fairly early to give myself a little more time to adjust. It will be a little higher there, and I will have to do the course a few times to feel comfortable with it. That is the main goal, besides staying healthy and making some small efforts. With the Renewi Tour (where he won a stage and finished second, ed.) and a good week of training, I hope to be in the best shape for the World Championships."