This could be Van der Poel's MTB calendar for 2023

On May 12th the XCO World Cup will start in Nove Mesto Na Morave and there we will see some of the riders, like Tom Pidcock, who combine road and mountain bike seasons, but it will not be the case of Mathieu van der Poel. Contrary to what he said a few months ago, it seems that the Dutchman will return to MTB racing this year, but not before the Glasgow Super World Championships.

Van der Poel could return to MTB in the second half of August

A few months ago, Mathieu van der Poel said that in 2023 he would like to focus on road cycling and leave a little aside mountain biking, but recently, Alpecin-Deceuninck announced that perhaps the Dutchman's calendar will change and we will see him racing in XC after the Road World Championships, next August 6th.

Proclaiming himself Olympic MTB champion is one of Van der Poel's major goals in life, and this change of decision is probably due to the enormous difficulties that the Netherlands will have in gaining access to an Olympic place for Paris 2024. Here we tell you about Van der Poel's problem to get a place in the ordinary way and the exceptions to which he could apply.

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In any case, based on the current MTB calendar and if he returns to racing in the second half of August, Van der Poel could be in the World Cup races in Andorra (23-27 August), Les Gets (7-17 September), Snowshoe (28 September - 1 October) and Mont Sainte Anne (6 - 8 October).

• 23-27 August 2023 - Europe - XCO, XCC- Andorra - Vallnord Pal Arinsa - UCI Wolrd Cup
• 7-17 September 2023 - Europe - XCO, XCC- France - Les Gets - UCI World Cup
• 28 September - 1 October 2023 - America - XCO, XCC- USA - Snowshoe - UCI World Cup
• 6 - 8 October 2023 - America - XCO, XCC - Canada - Mont Sainte Anne - UCI Wolrd Cup

The truth is that it would be exceptional to see Van der Poel in Snowshoe and Mont Sainte Anne, as he himself has stated on several occasions that he is not very enthusiastic about this type of long trips.