Mathieu van der Poel, seven-time World Cyclocross Champion and 2023 World Road Cycling Champion, is targeting the Mountain Bike World Championships in 2025. The 30 year-old Dutchman revealed the plan at a media day for his Alpecin-Deceuninck team this week. Speaking to Belgian site Sporza, he said “it is an ideal moment to focus on mountain biking again and to make the world title a big goal after the Tour de France. The plan is to do a few World Cup races too if it’s possible, I definitely want to do it. But that is only possible if it fits within my schedule.

Mathieu Van Der Poel collects his latest Rainbow Jersey at the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Lievin, France. Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images

“It’s the last piece of the puzzle that I’m missing. I really want to win the mountain bike world title. And with the Worlds in Rwanda, it’s ideal to focus only on mountain biking”, said van der Poel.

Dutch Mathieu van der Poel competes in the Men’s Elite Cross Country mountain biking test event, at Elancourt Hill, in Elancourt, west of Paris, on September 24, 2023. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Even without Pidcock to challenge him, van der Poel is far from assured of a Rainbow jersey. He has attempted it in the past, most memorably at Glentress in 2023, where he aimed to be World Champion in road, ‘cross, and MTB all in the same year. But the unpredictable nature of XC racing saw him crash on the very first lap, washing out on a corner while trying to accelerate to the front of the pack. Van der Poel retired from the race and Pidcock went on to win in front of a home crowd.

Van der Poel crashing in the 2020 Olympics was the start of his bad luck at major MTB races. Photo: ANP ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN (ANP Sport via Getty Images)

And it wasn’t the first time misfortune struck at an important event. At the Olympics in Tokyo 2020, van der Poel crashed heavily off a drop on the first lap, going over the bars. There had been confusion about a ramp placed on the obstacle during practice. It had been removed for the race, but van der Poel said he hadn’t been told.

Another early crash at the UCI World Championships in Scotland saw van der Poel’s hopes dashed, and Tom Pidcock went on to win the stripes. Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

This year’s World Championships XCO race takes place at Crans Montana, in the Valais region, on a very technical course that claimed many victims last year when it hosted a round of the UCI World Cup. Wet weather and unforgiving rock features made for a challenging race, so van der Poel will need to be on the top of his game to bag that missing Rainbow jersey.

Van der Poel will likely ride the latest Canyon Lux World Cup.

It’s likely van der Poel will ride Canyon’s Lux World Cup full-suspension bike in the race, as it’s not a course that suits a hardtail. This uses a 1,500g frame with 110mm travel up front and 100mm out back. Last year, compatriot Puck Pietersee rode one to victory at the World Championships in Andorra.