Mathieu van der Pol enters this weekend's UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Dubendorf, Switzerland (the final race of the season) as the overwhelming favorite to win his third world title.

As was the case at the European Championships in Italy, the Dutch leader will once again face a seven-rider Belgian squad that includes European silver medalist Eli Iserbyt, UCI World Cup champion Toon Aerts, and longtime rival Wout Van Aert. He will once again be competing against a team of athletes.

But if he's feeling the pressure - and he probably isn't, with 23 wins in 24 races in the 2019-20 season - the 25-year-old isn't showing it, with just two days until the wheels hit the dirt in Switzerland. [At a pre-race press event at a hotel near Zurich, he told Sporza (opens in new tab).

"I'm getting less and less nervous as the years go by and I'm happy about that. I'm really relaxed. Nervousness doesn't kill me."

The news is only ominous for Sunday's competitors. This is not a revelation, but "the devil you know is better" would not apply in the face of a nearly unbeatable rival.

At the same press event, van der Pol told WielerFlits that he was not at his best this winter.

Van der Pol's composure and confidence extended to his preparations for the weekend. The Dutch rider readily admitted that he had not yet ridden this course at all. By contrast, the Belgian riders had spent Friday afternoon scouting the flat, high-speed course.

"Like other crosses, it won't be run until Sunday morning," he told Het Laatste Nieuws (open in new tab)."

"It could change a lot with the weather and other categories of racing," he told Het Laatste Nieuws (open in tab).

A few showers are expected to fall over the weekend, and if they are sufficient, the speedy turf course could turn into a mud-fest by Sunday afternoon.

But regardless of the weather, Van der Pol has a plan, and it doesn't look like it will be to get up to speed on the opening lap, as he has done so many times in the past.

"You don't necessarily have to run off the start," he told HLN. "You can easily wait until the halfway point, as I've done many times this season. You can wait until the end. I hope it doesn't turn into a sprint, but even that can be a weapon."

One rival stands out above the rest, he added. It is not Van Aert, his "old" rival who is still not at 100% fitness after recovering from a serious thigh injury sustained in last year's Tour de France.

Instead, Van der Pol chose Thun Aert. The powerful Belgian, who won the UCI World Cup last weekend in Hoogerheide, has a strong claim to being the second best rider in the "cross" this season, along with teammate Eli Iserbyt. And given the characteristics of the course, it is that power that marks him out as a threat, says van der Pol.

"As far as I can predict at this point, Art will be my biggest rival. All the hard work on the hard straight sections belongs to Toon."

Van der Pol will put up a fight on Sunday afternoon. But he will have to wait two days to find out for sure.