“He’s now been more specific about it, but in recent years there was always speculation ‘okay, he’s won everything already’. But I think he enjoys it too much. I still see him enjoying himself on his cyclocross bike,” Bart Wellens argued on Telenet Play Sports. “The way he rides through the sand… You can just tell he loves it.”
There is a record still to beat, which is still a tough demand even for a rider of his level, but with what van der Poel shows on the cyclocross bike, it seems to be only a matter of time before he ultimately beats the record of Erick de Vlaeminck.
Less cyclocross, but no end
That is an appropriate finish line, and the Dutchman has expressed interest in having a winter without cyclocross, to see how much if at all he could improve on the road. However whether he will or not top racing cyclocross is barely a question for Wellens, who believes he may reduce the amount of races, but not stop fully. A schedule such as that of Wout van Aert could also be a possibility.
“He might do less cyclocross in the future. We always speculate ‘how much will our top riders do cyclocross?’ Mathieu, however, is taking it all in this period. He rides a lot of cyclocross compared to someone like Wout van Aert,” he argues, and with enjoyment and unmatched success. “So I don’t see him stopping anytime soon. I hope so, because I really enjoy watching him ride.”