Mathieu van der Poel will end his cyclocross season early as the World Championships in Dubendorf, Switzerland on February 2 will be the final race of the 2019-20 campaign.

The Dutchman had already missed a large part of the early cyclocross season after a long and successful campaign on the road for Corendon-Circus. He missed the Telenet Superprestige, the opening three rounds of the UCI World Cup, and the DVV Trofee's season opener, the Koppenbergcross.

According to Wielerfritz, "It's a little tricky for sure, but you have to make a choice," Van der Pol said. 'At the moment, that's off the top of my head. It has to be."

Last season, van der Pol raced for two weeks after winning the Rainbow Stripe at the World Championships in Borgense. He competed in the final two rounds of the Brico Cross Series, the final round of the DVV Trophy in Klawatten Cross, and the final two rounds of the Telenet Superprestige in Hoogstraten and Middelkerke, winning the latter two races overall.

Repeating this feat this year would be next to impossible given the races he has already missed. The decision to skip the same race at the end of the season was also a factor.

"Could a good classification change my mind?" no, I decided to finish after the World Championships." He then took a week off and left for training camp with the rest of the team."

Van der Pol has already said that he is focused on this year's World Championships, telling Het Nieuwsblad in early November that recapturing the rainbow jersey is his "only goal."

The 24-year-old has won all five races he has entered this season, most recently taking emotional victories in the fourth UCI World Cup race in Tabor and the second DVV Trophy race in Hamme over the weekend, just days after the death of his grandfather, Raymond Poulidor.

In Tabor, as in the UEC European Championships, he was pressed by young challenger Eli Iserbito, and in Hamme, he won a convincing victory by 40 seconds over Lawrence Sułek. He then traveled to France to attend his grandfather's funeral,

"There was no particular hesitation," he told Wielerfritz about his decision to take part in both races shortly after Poulidor's death,

and he was able to win both races in the same week. [Of course, it wasn't easy, but I think it would have been more difficult without the races. For me this was the best way to stay busy."

"It was hard all week. I think that makes sense. But when you cycle for an hour within the time limit and then immediately get a well-meaning question (about Poulidor), you realize that "Puppy" will never stand on the side of the road again."

Van der Pol's season continues this weekend with the Ambiance Cross (November 23), the UCI World Cup in Koksijde (November 24), and the DVV Trophy Kortrijk (November 30).

He will then race a full calendar in December, without his usual training camp in Spain, and will miss the World Cup in Nomey in mid-January.