Mathieu van der Poel went all white - helmet, glasses, shoes, bike and shorts - along with his white rainbow jersey at the Profwielerronde Etten Leur criterium in the Netherlands on Sunday.
It was his first opportunity to wear the newly acquired road jersey which he claimed in the elite men’s road race with a solo attack on August 6, after overcoming a late crash.
“Of course, I have already worn a rainbow jersey, but it seems like a long time ago,” Van der Poel told Het Nieuwsblad before the start of the criterium. “I was looking forward to riding in this jersey. I haven't even trained in it yet, because I came straight from Spain and the clothes were here.”
At the end of the 'unified' World Championships, Van der Poel headed to Marbella, Spain where he readily admitted to partying. “It was a few solid evenings. After the Worlds, there was quite a bit of decompression, so I will see how I feel when I start training again.”
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider is still undecided if he will race on the road again this year but he may use the racing opportunities as training in his quest to represent the Netherlands in cross-country mountain bike at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
“At first it was the intention not to do that, but now I'm going to start cycling again and see how it goes. We will then make a decision based on that. I also want to do a test event in Paris at the end of September for the mountain bike Olympics, so I still have to keep training anyway and then I prefer to race when I feel good.”
The test event for mountain biking will take place in Élancourt, France on September 23 and 24.
Van der Poel also added that he was disappointed when he crashed out on an early corner of the cross-country mountain bike race.
“That kind of canceled out my victory on the road," said Van der Poel. "That last race always sticks a bit. I certainly wasn't keen on becoming world champion, but I just wanted to end my season on a good note. But after such a clumsy crash I was angry with myself.”
The Etten Leur criterium, which boasts that it is the largest criterium in Europe, is located between Antwerp and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Etten Leur is not far from Van der Poel’s hometown of Kapellen in Belgium and his father’s home town of Hoogerheide.
Van der Poel finished fourth at the Etten Leur criterium won by Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep).
