By: Pro Cycling Tour
Embed from Getty ImagesMatieu is already focused on his great plans for 2021, with the Tour de France, the Tokyo Olympics and the UCI cyclo-cross world championships.
We have seen that Van der Poel is one of the cyclists, if not the most versatile cyclists of this generation and for this reason he wants to face this next season in a quite ambitious way.
“I’m supposed to do the combination,” van der Poel said. “The problem is that there are not many options. And yes, I also assume that I will start in the Tour de France with the aim of reaching Paris. I have no intention of leaving earlier. But I realize that it is not an ideal combination. “Van der Poel said.
Since you already know the dates that the Tour and the Men’s MTB Olympic race have scheduled, with only 9 days where you can recover, it is sure already beginning to be a real challenge.
Additionally, the MTB World Cup overlaps with important races of the spring classics.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe already recognized the challenge of not having ridden his mountain bike since 2019 and the tight schedules that he will have in these disciplines.
“I’m a bit scared of it. It took me a long time to get to the top of mountain biking and I mainly succeeded by riding a lot on that mountain bike and training specifically on it,” he said. “With that entire calendar gone, I feel like I’ve lost a year. There is a preliminary schedule to ride two, three World Cups in 2021 to grab some points and limit the damage. But that is of course all subject to change.”
In addition to his characteristics for the tour, he will surely be able to compete for the green jersey.
One of his main challenges at the beginning of the season has to do with the 2021 UCI cyclo-cross world championships in Ostend at the end of January.