Mathieu van der Pol will lead the Dutch elite men's team in the UCI Road World Championships road race in Yorkshire, England, later this month, and after winning Amstel Gold earlier this season, should be considered one of the favorites to win on the classic-style course He admits that.

At a press event hosted by his Corendon-Circus team in Antwerp, Belgium, on Wednesday, Van der Pol also said that he will run a reduced cyclocross season this winter in order to focus all his efforts on preparing for victory in the world championship road race on September 29 He said. [According to Het Nieuwsblad, "I will of course be one of the favorites to win the World Championships. 'I can agree with that. After the road in the spring, it's not illogical."

He admitted that he doesn't know much about the Yorkshire course yet, but there is plenty of time for a reconnaissance ride before the end of the month.

"I don't know much about it other than the bridge collapse that was talked about in the media.

"But I think it's a course for the Amstel Gold Race type of rider.

Van der Pol, winner of the spring Amstel Gold, won stages at Doire de Vlaanderen, Dunain GP, Brabantspijl, and the Sarthe circuit, and finished fourth in both the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem.

Despite continuing to ride at the highest level on the road, cyclocross, and mountain bike, Van der Pol missed the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont-Sanne, Canada last week to focus on his preparation for the road world championships.

"It certainly wasn't an easy choice," he said. You have to make a choice." The World Championships in Yorkshire are set up for me and that doesn't happen every year.

"Sometimes road world championships are completely flat, sometimes they are for climbers, like next year [in Switzerland]. You have to take your chances."

At last month's Arctic Tour of Norway, where he also won a stage, Van der Pol told reporters, including Cycling News, that the favorite to win Yorkshire is Julien Alaphilippe of France.

"He's definitely the strongest rider on the road overall this year. 'If you look at what he did in the Tour de France, it's unbelievable. The world championships is his last big goal, and we saw this year that if he puts his mind to something, he can really do great things. So for me, he is my strongest opponent."

As a result of his focus on the World Championship road race, Van der Pol said the cyclocross season will not start until late October.

"I'm not going to compete in 30 cyclocross events like I have in the past. I will concentrate on the DVV Trophy Series, some World Cup and Superprestige races, and a few other races."

"My big goals in cyclocross this season are the DVV classification and the World Championships.