Mathieu van der Poel makes a calculated transition from the mountain bike again to highway for his pursuit of one other rainbow jersey, a second Highway World Championships title in Montreal on September 27. Fairly than polish his highway type on the two WorldTour one-day races in Canada subsequent week, he’ll as a substitute lead Alpecin-Premier Tech on the Tour de Luxembourg, September 16-20.
The workforce confirmed the Dutch rider’s schedule on social media Wednesday. This would be the second time Van der Poel has competed within the five-day stage race. He made his final look whereas within the rainbow stripes two years in the past, profitable the opening stage and the factors classification and ending second general.
His 2024 build-up in Luxembourg led him to the bronze medal at Highway Worlds in Switzerland, becoming a member of winner Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) and runner-up Ben O’Connor (Australia) on the rostrum. It was a disappointing end for the Dutchman, who had soloed on moist roads in Glasgow the 12 months earlier than for the second highway world title of his profession – his first was in 2013 as a junior.
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Final 12 months Van der Poel was not a part of the Dutch squad for the Highway World Championships in Rwanda, as he didn’t favour the climbing-heavy course. He later returned to a lowered cyclo-cross schedule, and notched a document eighth world title in that self-discipline.
What evades Van der Poel is a world title in cross-country mountain bike. He began final week’s UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, however having competed in just one World Cup, he began on the fifth row and struggled to make up locations, ultimately ending in thirtieth.
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It was extremely anticipated that the 31-year-old would begin the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on September 11 and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal two days later for the primary time. Nevertheless, Alpecin-Premier Tech has not but introduced their roster for the 2 races.
This highway season has seen Van der Poel earn vital milestones, together with a 3rd E3 Saxo Basic and two stage wins on the Tour de France, together with his objective for glory on the Champs-Élysées.
Van der Poel will search for a spark once more in Luxembourg to up his recreation in Montréal for the elite males’s highway race, a 273.7km course. The race marks the primary Highway World Championships in Canada since 2003 when it was hosted in Hamilton, Ontario.
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