Just under a month ago, Mathieu Van der Poel was forced to withdraw from the Tour de France on the second rest day. The former world champion had developed a form of pneumonia, but now he is seriously considering hunting for the world jersey at the Mountain Bike World Championships. The Alpecin-Deceuninck leader had been feeling unwell for several days during the Grand Tour, and his condition forced the team managers and doctor to conduct further investigations during the rest day. Van der Poel had a fever, and it was diagnosed as pneumonia at a medical center in Carcassonne.

"It's always difficult to stay healthy during a grand tour," the Dutchman said a few days before the Renewi Tour, which will start from Terneuzen in Belgium. "You come into contact with many people and don't sleep in the best hotels. Unfortunately, this year it was my turn to get sick."

Van der Poel will return to racing on August 20th after withdrawing from the Tour de France and has decided to participate in the short Renewi Tour stage race in Belgium to resume his activities.

"It was a real disappointment to have to leave the Tour. Especially because there were still some good stages for me in the last week, particularly the final day of racing with the Montmartre climb."

Recovering from pneumonia was not easy, and for more than a week the Dutchman could not touch his bike. "I needed quite some time before I could start pedaling more intensely: now I'm improving and the situation is getting better day by day."

On September 14th, there will be the Mountain Bike World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and Van der Poel wants to win. "Basically, this race is in my program, but first we need to see how I do at the Renewi Tour and the Mountain Bike World Cup in Les Gets. The Renewi Tour is necessary to regain some competitive rhythm for mountain biking."

Mathieu Van der Poel's intention is to win the world champion jersey in mountain biking, which would make him the only rider in the world to have won world titles in road, cyclocross, gravel, and mountain bike.

"Now that I'm in Belgium, I'm trying to train more with the mountain bike. Just like in 2023, I'll start from the fourth row thanks to my UCI points earned in other disciplines. I would have preferred to start a bit further forward because you also need to be a bit lucky at the beginning of the race. The plan for the future is to participate in more mountain bike races, just like a few years ago. It's important to be in a good position if you want to win. This time it went well, but you never know what might happen in the coming years."

Van der Poel doesn't complain about his start from the fourth row. We've already seen how the Dutchman can easily recover from his competitors. There are still several days until the Mountain Bike World Championships: if he manages to find the right rhythm at the Renewi Tour, MVDP is convinced that the world title in Crans-Montana won't be impossible to win.