Mathieu van der Poel will not compete in cyclo-cross at the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry said on Thursday that cyclo-cross and cross-country running are not on the program in 2030.
“For 2030 we have made the decision: no crossover sports, no summer sports,” Coventry said during a press conference at an IOC congress. According to the chairman, this is still a possibility before 2034. If Van der Poel participates, he will be 38 years old.
The IOC therefore follows the position of the federation of winter sports associations. They announced last year that they were not in favor of the plan to have cross-country running and cyclo-cross take place at the Winter Games. The Dutch sports association NOC*NSF announced at the end of last year that it was in favor.
Summer sports
The IOC wants to increase the popularity of the Winter Games and was considering adding summer sports to the program. This would also increase the chance of success for countries that traditionally perform less well in winter sports.
Van der Poel wanted cyclo-cross to become an Olympic sport, but so did four-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar. The two, together with Puck Pieterse, participated in the UCI lobby last year.
