{"id":1715328,"date":"2026-02-01T13:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T10:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1715328"},"modified":"2026-02-01T13:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T10:29:29","slug":"is-mathieu-van-der-poel-retiring-from-cyclocross-heres-what-he-is-saying-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1715328","title":{"rendered":"Is Mathieu van der Poel Retiring from Cyclocross? Here\u2019s What He Is Saying Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Updated February 2, 2026 12:43AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Winning his eighth world cyclocross title on Sunday marked an absolute record for Mathieu van der Poel, but it\u2019s not his first historic achievement this season.<\/p>\n

One week ago he raced to a classy victory in Hoogerheide. It was, remarkably, the 51st World Cup victory of his cross career, and moved him past the 50 win mark previously held by Sven Nys.<\/p>\n

In surpassing multiple world championship winner Erik de Vlaeminck this Sunday and eclipsing Nys last weekend, Van der Poel has marked himself out as the best cyclocross rider of all time.<\/p>\n

Even his current and former competitors are admitting that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an honor that I have been able to win 50 of them,\u201d Nys told Sporza last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat record stood for 10 years and this weekend it is broken by a very fine name. He is the best cyclo-cross rider who has ever raced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wout van Aert was also quick to laud his arch rival.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is undoubtedly the greatest cyclocross rider of all time,\u201d the Belgian said, speaking on the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast of Laurens ten Dam.<\/p>\n

However the prospect of Van der Poel further extending those two records is very much up in the air. He has himself hinted at a possible retirement from this area of the sport, telling HLN.be in December that it is a possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is something I think about,\u201d he said then. \u201cI have always said it would be very nice to stop in my own country with the record. For the rest, there would not be much more left for me to achieve in cyclocross.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That led to inevitable speculation, something his father Adrie van der Poel only added to when he talked about the toll the sport takes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMathieu gets home two hours later than everyone else after a cross,\u201d he told Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. \u201cHow long did the ceremony in Maasmechelen take? Not normal. And then you get back to the camper, and it\u2019s full of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

A good time to stop?<\/h2>\n
\"Mathieu
Dutch king Willem-Alexander (l) and UCI president David Lappartient (r) made a special award to Mathieu van der Poel to recognize his record eighth win in the cyclocross world championships in Hulst on Sunday (Photo: Luc Claessen\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Going out at the top is a big priority for many sportspeople. Van der Poel isn\u2019t talking about leaving cycling; he still wants and plans to race on the road, and has targets he wants to chase there. He also has a contract with Alpecin-Premier Tech until 2028.<\/p>\n

However he has also made clear that he doesn\u2019t want to remain in cross so long that his performances drop. Asked by HLN.be about the world championships in Hoogerheide in 2028\u2014again, the year his current contract with Alpecin will end\u2014he said that there is a risk to continuing until then.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to stop at a peak,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you get fifth in Hoogerheide\u2026 Then there will be an aftertaste.\u201d<\/p>\n

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His father is part of the organization for that event, and said he won\u2019t put pressure on him to participate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course we\u2019d love him to race,\u201d he told . \u201cBut if he doesn\u2019t, that\u2019s his choice. I respect that completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying that I\u2019m going to be a world champion in Hulst, but then I have the choice to do it there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He duly did so on Sunday, surpassing the previous record and making even more history.<\/p>\n

So what now?<\/p>\n

Van der Poel was asked that exact question after receiving his new rainbow jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther legends in their sports like [MTB cross-country rider] Nino Schurter and [motocross racer] Stefan Everts have ten world titles. Is it a number that that still motivates you?\u201d said the reporter doing the flash interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, of course ten is a really nice number,\u201d Van der Poel replied. \u201cBut I am already happy with eight with the record. We will see in the future how many more I will participate in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That was non-committal, but also important in itself. There was speculation that he could announce a farewell to cyclocross this weekend, but that now won\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

So, is he saying that he needs more time to consider his plans for next season?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, like I said before I haven\u2019t decided anything yet,\u201d he answered. \u201cWe will see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Hard to believe\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Mathieu
Mathieu van der Poel and Tibor Del Grosso pictured in action at the men elite race at UCI Cyclocross World Championships, on Sunday 01 February 2026, in Hulst, The Netherlands. (Photo: David Pintens\/ Belga Mag via AFP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Van der Poel\u2019s latest statement will see thousands of Dutch fans feeling a little relief.<\/p>\n

He won\u2019t race cross forever. But right now, at this exact moment, a decision about stopping or continuing won\u2019t be made.<\/p>\n

Next step the classics, and the resumption of his epic battles with Tadej Poga\u010dar and others. And, yes, Van Aert.<\/p>\n

Time enough after that and after his other road goals to weigh up the pros and cons about retirement.<\/p>\n

But what does Van Aert himself think about the possibility of Van der Poel stopping?<\/p>\n

\u201cI found it hard to believe,\u201d he said about the chatter.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith how dominant he is right now, I think everyone should be happy if Mathieu keeps racing. It\u2019s fantastic to watch him ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Updated February 2, 2026 12:43AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/cyclocross\/cyclocross-racing\/is-matteo-van-der-poel-retiring-from-cyclocross\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Updated February 2, 2026 12:43AM Winning his eighth world cyclocross title on Sunday marked an absolute record for Mathieu van der Poel, but it\u2019s not his first historic achievement this season. One week ago he raced to a classy victory in Hoogerheide. It was, remarkably, the 51st World Cup victory of his cross career, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1715329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1715328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1715328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1715329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1715328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1715328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1715328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}