Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix), who won the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup short track in Albstadt on Friday, said that in order to secure a good starting position for the Tokyo Olympics, he will be racing cross country on Sunday. He said he intends to get a result.

The Dutch rider will only compete in mountain bike races this weekend and in Nove Mesto before his main goal, an XC race in Tokyo on July 26.

"It is important to have a good starting position for the Olympics, so we want to get as many points as possible," van der Pol said in a team press release. 'It would be nice to go home feeling good, and next week I want to aim higher. It's a long time without a MTB race before the Olympics."

Van der Pol has not raced at the World Cup level in mountain biking since 2019, when he won the XC rounds of Nove Mesto, Val di Sole, and Lenzerheide, after his season was interrupted last year by the COVID-19 epidemic. Instead, he shifted his focus to road racing, winning the Tour of Flanders, BinckBank Tour, and Dutch Championships at the end of last year and winning his fourth cyclocross world title this season, after winning the Strade Bianche and Tirreno Adriatico, UAE Tour stage He won at.

It's an abrupt transition from the Tour de Flanders to MTB, but van der Pol says he enjoys off-road training more.

"The intensity is definitely a lot different, and MTB is a bit more fun than road biking; the technique and the places you can go on MTB are great, and I don't feel like I'm training because I'm having so much fun."

He also says that he has been able to "get a lot more out of the Tour de Flanders than I did before.

The 26-year-old is not sure how he will fare in Alpstadt on Sunday. He said, "I've been training to be in the best condition possible, but it's hard to compare it to the World Cup. But I'll get a concrete feel for the World Cup course after the race, so I'm kind of curious to see how I'm doing this weekend."

"I haven't competed against them for a while now, so I don't know what steps they have taken. I'm hoping to be at a good level, but honestly I don't think I'm at the same level I was at when I stopped."

Van der Pol says it would have been better if the Olympics had been held last year. His Alpecin Phoenix team is preparing for the Tour de France in 2020, and as the star of the team, he is expected to do well there--even though the final stage is July 18, a little over a week before his big goal in Tokyo.

"The program is a little busy, maybe not ideal for the Olympics. But you have to deal with it. Of course, the situation at Covid was a little bit worst for everyone. But I'm just happy to be racing again. I'll take it in stride and try to do as good a race as I can on the big day."

One of those days was Sunday, when Van der Pol liked the course but didn't like the lack of spectators. He said, "I think Nove Mesto suits me better."

He said, "I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it on Sunday.

After the World Cup next week, Van der Pol will prepare for the Tour de France at a high-altitude camp in La Plagne before competing in the Tour de Suisse and the Dutch championships.