The last rainbow jersey: Mathieu van der Poel on the hunt for the XCO title

When the Mountain Bike World Championships in the Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) discipline take place on Sunday, one name will be in the spotlight: Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman has already won world championship titles on the road, in cyclo-cross and on gravel during his career. The only thing he’s still missing is the coveted rainbow jersey on his mountain bike.

Pre-World Cup for Mathieu van der Poel

Van der Poel demonstrated just how seriously he takes this discipline as recently as last weekend at the World Cup in Les Gets. In his first XCO race in just under a year, he finished second straight away. Only Adrien Boichis proved stronger in the end. Earlier, van der Poel had secured tenth place in the short track race, thereby earning a starting position on the second row for the main race. This advantage proved decisive, as he was able to establish himself among the front-runners right from the start and fight for victory.

No qualifying for a top starting position at the World Championships

However, that is precisely where the problem lies for the World Championships. Unlike at Les Gets, Mathieu van der Poel will not be able to improve his starting position there by competing in a short-track race beforehand. Instead, due to a lack of world ranking points, he will have to start the race much further back on the grid. The Dutchman himself emphasised after his podium finish in Les Gets just how important a good starting position is in XCO, and that he would also need a bit of luck for the World Championships.

On the narrow and technically demanding World Championship course, this poses a huge disadvantage. Whilst the specialists can battle it out for the best lines right at the front, van der Poel will first have to overtake numerous rivals. This not only costs time, but also valuable energy.

Here’s how the odds stand

Nevertheless, it would be premature to write off the 31-year-old. His performance at Les Gets showed that he can keep up with the pace of the best XCO riders straight away. Furthermore, Mathieu van der Poel is one of the few riders in the road cycling peloton who, through his explosive power and riding skill, can single-handedly turn a race on its head.

The situation is therefore clear: given his poor starting position, Van der Poel is not among the top favourites for the title. At the same time, given his exceptional abilities, it would not be a surprise if he were to fight his way to the front nonetheless. The chance of him winning the fourth rainbow jersey of his career is still alive, even if the conditions are far from ideal.