Dutch Masters | Adrie van der Poel and a youthful Mathieu van der Poel in the early days of junior's career when he was a star of cyclocross before ever making his mark in road racing (Photo: Cor Vos)
A former world champion in cyclocross and a top pro on the road, Adrie van der Poel has said his son, Mathieu van der Poel, cannot expect to continue racing cyclocross and "get away with it" in terms of the toll it takes, physically and mentally.
"You can’t just ride three days of cyclocross without consequences," said Adrie van der Poel, one of Sean Kelly's great rivals and winner of both Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour of Flanders, among 47 career wins on the road.
He also suggested walking away from ‘cross – a move recently floated by Van der Poel Jnr himself – could prolong his road career as he is about to turn 31-years-old, and could even lead to him getting better on the road.
Van de Poel Jnr has won all of his five outings to date in the 2025-26 cyclocross season. His latest came today, St Stephens Day, at the UCI World Cup in Gavere. That was his fourth World Cup win in five outings since he made his season debut on December 14th, months after the campaign began for everyone else.
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A former world champion in cyclocross and a top pro on the road, Adrie van der Poel has said his son, Mathieu van der Poel, cannot expect to continue racing cyclocross and "get away with it" in terms of the toll it takes, physically and mentally.
"You can’t just ride three days of cyclocross without consequences," said Adrie van der Poel, one of Sean Kelly's great rivals and winner of both Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour of Flanders, among 47 career wins on the road.
He also suggested walking away from ‘cross – a move recently floated by Van der Poel Jnr himself – could prolong his road career as he is about to turn 31-years-old, and could even lead to him getting better on the road.
Van de Poel Jnr has won all of his five outings to date in the 2025-26 cyclocross season. His latest came today, St Stephens Day, at the UCI World Cup in Gavere. That was his fourth World Cup win in five outings since he made his season debut on December 14th, months after the campaign began for everyone else.
Van der Poel Jnr (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike) are both top road professionals who came to the road from cyclocross. On making the switch to road racing, they initially tried to ride as many cyclocross races as they could during the winter months.
However, in recent years their 'cross seasons have been condensed into intense periods of racing from mid December into the New Year, when they have stopped to better prepare for the road season.
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Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) has also been a star of 'cross and road down the years though he has now stopped riding 'cross in winter. His programme is complicated by the fact he is the biggest star in XC MTB, when he races, where he has won the world and Olympic titles.
However, Van der Poel Jnr will turn 31-years-old in mid January and after his recent Antwerp World Cup win he said that, one day, his cyclocross racing would come to an end.
He added he wanted to win a record number of ‘cross world titles before stopping. He has seven, equalling Erik De Vlaeminck, and needs just one more to take the men's record outright.
"I'm not going to keep racing cyclocross forever," he said after Antwerp. "There has to be an end at some point. I've always said I want to finish on a high. Both on the road and in cyclocross."
And now, speaking to In de Leiderstrui, Adrie van der Poel has said his son was leaving the door open on stepping away for 'cross – which would mean a complete focus on road to the end of his career. Though Adrie said nothing had been decided yet, he made it clear that even a very short 'cross season took a toll on his son.
“Maybe at some point he wants to ride all the way to Lombardy and then has to start building up again. That makes a cyclocross winter more difficult. This year, that was not a discussion," Van der Poel Snr said.
And while some people may see the effort as simply turning up to race for a small number of days each winter, Van der Poel Snr – who drives his son to all of the ‘cross races - said there was a lot more involved.
“It’s more than a full day,” he said of each 'cross race. “Sometimes you already do an hour of warm up riding in the morning, then it’s showering and straight off to the cross. If he then wins and there is a (doping) control, it takes an hour and a half before we can leave.
“They are simply very intensive days. In the evening, we are usually only back between seven and eight o’clock, and then you still have to go to the masseur. You can’t just ride three days of cyclocross without consequences.”
Van der Poel Snr also suggested he son might improve on the road if he let go 'cross racing, adding everyone always expected Jnr to win any 'cross race he entered, which also brought pressure.
“We don’t know if he can still improve without racing cyclocross. We simply don’t know that,” he said. “Everyone is always watching him. And the more you win, the closer the non-win becomes."
