Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin-Desseuninck) has hinted that he may skip the 2025 Tour de France and return to mountain biking.

The Dutch star won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix this season in the road race world champion jersey, but spent a subdued summer in relative obscurity at the Tour de France.

This led him to question whether he wanted to return next year or whether he would be better off sacrificing this year and returning to mountain biking, where he still had unfinished business.

“To say I was unsatisfied with the Tour might be a bit strong, but I didn't have a good time,” van der Pol told the Spanish newspaper Marca after participating in the winter criterium event in Alicante.

“I was able to wear the yellow jersey on my Tour debut (in 2021) and I had high expectations. This year it was difficult to reach my top level in the Tour, but it wasn't bad. I know I'm better at one-day races and that's what I'm focusing on.”

Van der Poel has won many illustrious classics on the road, including seven Monuments and a World Championship, but his impact in the world's biggest races has been limited: he won a stage in 2021 and made an impressive debut wearing the yellow jersey Van der Poel, but has not had the same success, retiring midway through the Giro d'Italia in 2022, and his best finish in the last two events has been 12th.

Asked if he would return to the Tour in 2025, he replied: “I don't know yet. It depends on how the season goes. If I have time, maybe I could come back to mountain biking. That's still a big goal for me.

Van der Pol has been a regular on the mountain bike circuit throughout his multifaceted career, but has yet to win a major international title. This year he decided to skip the Olympics, but world championships remain a major career goal. In addition to the six cyclocross world titles in his locker, Van der Pol also won the road race crown last year and recently took his eighth rainbow jersey in the new discipline of gravel. If he wins the mountain bike title next summer, he will be world champion in four disciplines.

Van der Pol has a decision to make next summer, but also this winter, and it is not yet clear whether he will return to the cyclocross circuit where the season recently began.

“I don't know yet,” he said. I haven't decided yet, so we'll see.”