Van der Poel presents his CX calendar, without Benidorm: "My only real goal is the seventh world title"

Quite later than usual, the current Cyclocross World Champion Mathieu van der Poel has just presented his mud calendar for this season. He will start on December 22, will not be in Benidorm, and achieving his seventh World title is the real goal.

Van der Poel presents and explains his race calendar for the 2024-25 cyclocross season

"I thought about it for a while". This is how the statement began in which Mathieu van der Poel reveals how a cyclocross season that many doubted would happen for the reigning World Champion in the discipline.

"After thinking about it carefully and discussing it with the team management and performance staff, I opted for a solid race calendar. It is a compact program, although another option was to do two World Cup races and the World Championships, but I believe it makes more sense to do this series of races."

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"Once that decision was made, I quickly outlined the races I wanted to include. And yes, I am lucky to have the freedom to choose the races I like the most. It is no coincidence that with Zonhoven, Mol, and Koksijde, there are a few typical sand races on the menu."

"We are taking a slightly different approach this winter. Last year I started the season in great shape, but the World Championships were not my best race of the season in terms of feelings. Now we are trying to arrive at the Worlds in top form by focusing on specific preparations during a training camp. For optimal efficiency, it is better not to interrupt it."

"The seventh world title, of course. It is the only thing left for me to achieve in CX: this unique record of Erik De Vlaeminck. This aspiration has been the driving force behind my commitment to this winter cyclocross season. The World Championship in Liévin is the only real goal, although I hope to fight for victory in all the other races I participate in. But we will see how it goes in the first few weeks. As I have already said, the peak will come a little later this year."

This is the CX calendar 2024-25 for Van der Poel

• 12/22/24 - World Cup Zonhoven - Belgium
• 12/23/24 - Superprestige Mol - Belgium
• 12/26/24 - World Cup Gavere - Belgium
• 12/27/24 - Exact Cross Loenhout - Belgium
• 12/29/24 - World Cup Besancon - France
• 01/01/25 - X2O Trofee Baal - Belgium
• 01/03/25 - X2O Trofee Koksijde - Belgium
• 01/05/25 - World Cup Dendermonde - Belgium
• 01/25/25 - World Cup Maasmechelen - Belgium
• 01/26/25 - World Cup Hoogerheide - Netherlands
• 02/02/25 - World Championships Liévin - France