Take2 weeks ago
Van der Poel has road, gravel, and cyclocross world titles — eight in cyclocross alone — but the MTB rainbow jersey is the one gap in his collection, and Les Gets is the last checkpoint before Val di Sole on August 30. The calculus is blunt: one crash in a World Cup tune-up could take out his road Worlds campaign in Montréal four weeks later.
He's racing both XCC and XCO at Les Gets (August 23–25), starting 41st on the short track grid — a self-imposed handicap for the rider who owns 10 career XCC victories. The field at Val di Sole is not soft: two-time defending champion Alan Hatherly, 2026 World Cup leader Luca Martin, Tom Pidcock, and Christopher Blevins are all in. Van der Poel is absorbing genuine risk across two disciplines to close the one gap his palmares still has.
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