Mathieu van der Poel returns to the road after dominating mountain bike races
The Dutch superstar makes his return to the peloton in preparation for the Yorkshire World Championships


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Mathieu van der Poel makes his return to the road after a dominating run in mountain bike races, as he prepares for the Yorkshire World Championships.
The Dutch star secured a hat-trick of wins in mountain bike World Cup rounds in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on Sunday (August 11), where he beat world champion Nino Schurter by 25 seconds.
After four months away from the peloton, Van der Poel now switches back to the road at the Arctic Tour of Norway on Thursday (August 15) as he targets the elite road race in Yorkshire next month.
>>> ‘It’s easy to get carried away’: Pavel Sivakov opts to skip Vuelta a España despite strong form
After winning his third World Cup of the year, Van der Poel said: “Victory means a lot to me. It's probably the hardest one of the year, because Nino is of course even more motivated to his home audience. The overall World Cup may eventually become an issue, for the time being I stick to my plan and will not go to [the mountain bike world championships in] Snowshoe. I have other goals. I'm very happy with my mountain bike season."
In April, the 24-year-old secured one of the most memorable victories of the season at Amstel Gold Race, the last time he competed on the road.
The cyclocross world champion has spread himself across three disciplines this season – CX, road, and mountainbike – and has set himself ambitious targets in each.
>>> ‘It’s easy to get carried away’: Pavel Sivakov opts to skip Vuelta a España despite strong form
On the road, Corendon-Circus rider Van der Poel will skip the MTB World Championships later this month, instead preparing for the road Worlds where he hopes to win the rainbow stripes on the challenging course that finishes in Harrogate.
Next season, Van der Poel will make the off-road season his main focus as he targets the Olympic mountain bike event in Tokyo.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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