As Mathieu van der Poel prepares to return to Cyclocross, and there are speculations about his possible participations in road races in 2024. In an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, Van der Poel emphasizes that there are still decisions to be made.
“Now I’m trying to increase my endurance base so that I can extend my spring season. Anyway, I’ll try to be in my best form at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but I’m realistic,” he admits.
“When guys like Tadej Pogacar or Remco Evenepoel start at La Redoute (Liège Bastogne Liège), it’s almost impossible for me to participate. The weight difference is too big for that.”
Training with Evenepoel
Speaking of Evenepoel, he and van der Poel were recently seen training together on the roads of southern Spain.
“The relationship with him is different from that with Wout van Aert because we are less competitors,” says van der Poel about his friendship with the Time Trial World Champion.
“Maybe later in Liège, but I don’t know if he really sees me as a competitor there.”
Van der Poel’s 2024 Calendar:
Regarding van der Poel’s plans for the 2024 calendar, there are three options.
“I’ll do the Tour and then only the road race at the Olympics. Or I won’t do the Tour and then I’ll do both the road race and mountain biking,” he says.
“What I certainly won’t do is participate in the Tour and then drop out early, as I did in Tokyo. The Olympic road race happens two weeks after the Tour, and that’s really ideal.”
You can compare this with the World Championships in Glasgow this year, where I also achieved a very good level by doing the Tour earlier. But the Mountain Bike event is very soon, a week after the Tour. So I won’t be able to reach my best level.”
“The third option on the table is to do the Tour and the Vuelta. Ultimately, I will decide for myself, in consultation with the team,” concludes the Dutchman in an enigmatic manner.