After securing his third cyclocross World Championship title, Mathieu van der Poel told Cycling News that he would love to race Enduro.
The 25-year-old rider who won his third cyclocross World Championship last weekend told in an interview with Cycling News his admiration for enduro racing, although he does say it would be difficult to fit it into an already packed year-round racing schedule.
“I would love to do enduro races but it’s not possible to combine. I think it’s one of the coolest disciplines around but for now, I have my hands full with these (other) disciplines,”
Alongside his comments about enduro Mathieu also stated that his future in MTB is not yet decided after he has previously made the suggestion that he may focus on road racing after the Olympics.
 |
The way I do road cycling, it is possible to combine with mountain bike but if you do the Grand Tours then it’s not possible anymore |
The Dutch cyclist told Cycling News: “I think that Classics races and mountain bike is something you can combine, but not a full road season.
“Doing a Grand Tour is on the bucket list, to do it once, but mountain biking is a sport I love so much that it would be hard to say goodbye. Of course, I will have to make a decision some time. My grandfather [Raymond Poulidor] was more of a Grand Tour rider than I am. I know for sure I’m not climbing fast enough to follow the guys to be in front of the general classification.”
Mathieu has dominated short track racing and been a constant threat for the podium at XC World Cups since he first dipped his toes into elite mountain bike racing in 2017. Now, with him finally securing victory over Nino Schurter last year in Nove Mesto, he has made no secret of the fact he is targeting an Olympic gold medal this summer in Tokyo. If he does decide to keep racing mountain bikes for a little while longer, it will be interesting to see the continued fight on track with Nino, and who wouldn’t want to see him take his immense power on the bike to an enduro race?
