Can Mathieu van der Poel win two world championships in one week?
Dutch phenom has a chance to for a rare double rainbow in Glasgow
Most riders, after winning a world championship title in spectacular fashion, would take a bit of time to celebrate. Mathieu van der Poel, though, has proved time and again, and in so many different ways, that he is far from “most riders.”
The Dutch phenom’s latest goal, though, is heads and shoulders above anything anyone else has realistically attempted. After winning Sunday’s elite men’s road race world championships, again, in spectacular fashion, van der Poel is already on course on an entirely different bike preparing for cross country mountain bike world championships.
If van der Poel is successful, it would mark an absolutely mind-blowing two world championship titles in two very different disciplines in one week. It would actually put the “super” in UCI’s attempt at “super worlds.”
Could van der Poel actually win XCO worlds?
The amazing thing about van der Poel’s unlikely run at the double-rainbow is that, in the context of his past achievements, it is not that far-fetched. It would be absolutely incredible, to be sure. But it is within the realm of possibility. He has won several World Cup mountain bike races in the past. And he’s already won the road worlds, showing that there is very little – mechanical or bio-mechanical – that could stop him in that quest.
Sure, the cross country field will include a long list of accomplished racers, including the indefatigable Nino Schurter. But the road worlds field wasn’t exactly B-List material. And, after a shaky start to the season, many cast doubts on his ability to win that race. So why not silence the critics a second time?
Not the first
As in the past, van der Poel’s attempt at the unprecedented follows closely the footsteps of a phenomenal female rider. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won four world championship titles in just a few weeks last fall. That included three mountain bike titles (XCC, XCO, and XCM) as well as the first-ever gravel worlds.
Van der Poel’s attempt at road/XCO double, though, does distinguish itself from PVP’s remarkable accomplishment by virtue of being in two, highly competitive Olympic disciplines in a staggeringly short period of time. Before her quad title in 2023, Ferrand-Prevot won road and mountain bike worlds in one year (at just 23 years old, no less), but not in the same week.
Not the goal, necessarily
While van der Poel always has the potential to win in basically any race he enters, and any racer will take the opportunity to win a race if possible, the Dutch rider likely has a more long-term goal in mind this week in Scotland. That is the Paris Olympic Games one year from now.
Ever since his weird and unfortunate exit from the Tokyo Olympic cross country mountain bike race, van der Poel has remained clear that he still has a goal of winning a gold medal off road. Racing XCO world championships could help satisfy the Dutch selection committee’s requirements for including MvdP on next year’s Olympic roster, allowing him to continue his discipline-defying race calendar with full freedom.
The UCI appears to be thinking along the same lines. A late-stage rule change from cycling’s infinitely wise and pure governing body moved van der Poel from the back of Saturday’s XCO start grid to the fifth row, giving him a much easier path to Olympic qualification.
