How has Van der Poel achieved such a high level in CX this season?

The sports director of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Christoph Roodhooft, reveals in statements to Het-Nieuwsblad the secrets of Mathieu van der Poel's preseason which, for now, means a full house of victories, all of them in a crushing manner, in the cyclocross races he has competed in and which point to a memorable mud campaign for the Dutchman.

Van der Poel's secret to his performance in cyclocross is in Spain

The lack of pressure and the last months facing his preseason on the roads of Alicante have made Mathieu van der Poel be in the “best shape he has ever been” according to Alpecin-Deceuninck's sports director, Christoph Roodhooft, confessed to the Belgian newspaper Het-Niewsblad.

And it is that, beyond the typical winter concentrations that teams usually carry out, Mathieu has directly bought a house in the Marina Alta of Alicante, specifically in Javea after some years spending long seasons in the area with the facilities of the Syncrosfera hotel as a base, a place where, according to Roodhooft, he does nothing but train and rest, with nothing to distract him, unlike what happens when he is in Belgium where there are always things to do.

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Also, the advantage of Alicante is the good weather compared to that of Belgium during these dates, which allows him to complete all planned training without incidents, moving away the possibility of suffering incidents. “The last 14 months have gone smoothly. Everything went as planned, without illnesses or accidents of any kind” commented the Alpecin-Deceuninck technician.

In fact, in recent days he has been seen sharing training on the roads of Alicante with another who has been residing long seasons in the area like Remco Evenepoel.

In addition, as Christoph Roodhooft confessed, Van der Poel, at his 28 years old, “is reaching an age where everything is fitting, he feels good, technically impeccable, his engine works optimally, he has the ideal position on the bike…”

Proof of this is the overwhelming dominance he has shown in the cyclocross races contested in recent weeks and that, especially after the last World Cup race in Gavere, his 4th consecutive victory, has left his rivals with a feeling of total frustration as is the case of his archrival Wout van Aert who after the Gavere test declared “the kicking zones of the circuit suited me well so I tried to make it as hard as possible for Mathieu from the start. But in the second lap I was already above my limit. Mathieu simply destroyed the race, he is on another level”.

Another aspect that has influenced the spectacular performance of Mathieu van der Poel in this reduced cyclocross campaign is that he faces it without any kind of pressure, for mere fun. Something he is enjoying again after forgetting the back pains that have been torturing him in recent winters. In his head now is only the challenge of achieving his sixth rainbow jersey of the modality and getting closer to the record of 7 titles held by Erid de Vlaeminck.