Mathieu van der Poel will participate in the World Cup in Australia at the end of this month. 27-year-old Van der Poel will compete in the road race and the mixed team time trial. It was uncertain whether the leader of Alpecin-Deceuninck would make the trip to Wollongong on the Australian east coast, but he is part of the selection of national coach Koos Moerenhout.
“Mathieu is a spearhead, but we certainly want to use the strength of the entire team,” said Moerenhout, who has also selected Dylan van Baarle, Bauke Mollema, Daan Hoole, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Wout Poels, Jan Maas and Taco van der Hoorn. . ,,As far as you can compare a World Cup course with a classic, it is a mix of the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. We have a well-balanced squad that allows us to be competitive on all parts of the course.”
Mollema and Hoole will also ride the time trial on the opening day of the World Cup (September 18). Hoole takes over from Tom Dumoulin, who would initially stop after the World Cup, but already decided last month to immediately end his career. ,,Daan has already shown that he can achieve a very high level in the youth categories and can now also compete directly with the best in the world among the pros”, says Moerenhout.
,,Bauke Mollema has always been a good time trialist, but has shown a lot of progress this year. I am curious about his performance at this World Cup. So there is also ambition in this area.” Mollema became Dutch time trial champion in June.
In the mixed team time trial, which will be held on September 21, Van der Poel forms the Dutch team with Mollema, Hoole, Ellen van Dijk, Annemiek van Vleuten and Riejanne Markus. ,,That can be a nice last competition stimulus for Mathieu towards the road race’, says Moerenhout.
Last week, national coach Loes Gunnewijk already announced the women’s World Cup team. Van Vleuten and Marianne Vos are the spearheads in the road race, on September 24 over 165.4 kilometres. The men close the event a day later with a race over 266.9 kilometers.
Road race:
Mathieu van der Poel
Dylan van Baarle
Bauke Mollema
Daan Hoole
Pascal Unicorn
Wout Poels
Jan Maas
Taco van der Hoorn
Time trial:
Bauke Mollema
Daan Hoole
mixed relay:
Bauke Mollema
Daan Hoole
Mathieu van der Poel
Ellen van Dijk
Annemiek van Vleuten
Riejanne Markus
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on any of the stars.