Mathieu van der Pol has stated that he hopes to make his Grand Tour debut at the 2020 Vuelta a España. The Dutch rider plans to ride the spring classics before going for gold in the mountain bike competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but hopes to return to the road after his return from Japan. The cross-country race will take place on July 27, while the Vuelta kicks off on August 14 in Utrecht. According to [Sporza (opens in new tab)], "The focus is on the Olympics," van der Pol said Sunday. "Tokyo is my big dream, and after that the Grand Tour is a big and new challenge. I want to go to the Vuelta."

Van der Pol will continue with Belgian pro continental team Corendon Circus in 2020. But given that the 2020 Vuelta will begin with three stages in the Netherlands, their prospects look strong.

"It's a specific goal of our team," Christophe Rudhoeft, manager of Corendon Circus, told NOS (open in new tab). 'That's the intention. We still have to wait a little bit to see if it will all be decided."

"We have a lot of work to do,"

Roodhoeft said.

Rudhoft said that the spring Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are Van der Poel's main goals and that he will likely pause his road campaign after the Amstel Gold Race to focus on mountain biking.

"In principle, he will rest for a while and then compete in the first World Cup in May," Rudhoeft said.

Van der Pol won the Amstel Gold Race, Dwars door Hlaanderen, Brabanthe Pyle, and Tour of Britain in 2019, and also finished fourth in his debut Tour of Flanders. He also opened his winning streak at the Road World Championships in Yorkshire, despite losing contact on the last lap. The Dutch rider also won three rounds of the cyclocross world title, the mountain bike European Championships cross country race, and the MTB World Cup.

On Sunday, Van der Pol made his first cyclocross appearance of the 2019-2020 campaign at the Ruddervoorde Superprestige, winning ahead of Laurens Sweeck.

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