How Mathieu van der Poel Trains (One Engine, Three Sports)

Van der Poel is world champion on the road, in cyclocross and on gravel. How one engine spans three disciplines, and why he isn't sure cyclocross helps his road form.

Sven Ahrens29 juli 2026Laatst bijgewerkt 6 september 2026

cyclingcyclocrossFTPpowertraining

Mathieu van der Poel has been world champion on the road, in cyclocross and on gravel, racing all three in one year. The lesson for a normal cyclist is one broad engine instead of a narrow one. The complication: he isn't convinced his winter of cyclocross helps his road form at all.

A racing bloodline and a three-sport year

His father Adrie won a Tour of Flanders and a cyclocross world title. His grandfather was Raymond Poulidor, the "eternal second" of the Tour de France. Van der Poel's year runs cyclocross in winter, the cobbled classics in spring, and MTB and gravel around them. In early 2026 he won a record eighth cyclocross world title, and he holds road (2023) and gravel (2024) world titles. He is not a mountain-bike world champion, despite racing MTB at the top level.

Cross might not help the road

Van der Poel has said he doesn't need cyclocross to reach his best road level, and has wondered aloud whether he might be better without it, using the winter for recovery and uninterrupted road blocks. Cyclocross gives him race intensity and world-class handling, but costs recovery and interrupts the long blocks that build peak road form.

The engine underneath

One giant aerobic engine plus rare explosive power unites the three disciplines. Independent analyses of his race files put his sustained power in exceptional territory, but these are third-party estimates, not team numbers, so take the exact watts loosely.

The number you can measure on yourself is functional threshold power.

FTP

250W

Sweet Spot

220–235W

88–94% FTP

Zone	Bereik	Wat het traint
Z1	Actief Herstel ≤ 138 W	Herstel; laat de benen draaien zonder belasting toe te voegen. RPE 1–2, heel makkelijk.
Z2	Duurvermogen 139–188 W	Aerobe basis, vetverbranding, de hele dag vol te houden tempo. RPE 3–4, pratend.
Z3	Tempo 189–225 W	Aeroob duurvermogen en spierefficiëntie. RPE 5–6, comfortabel zwaar.
Z4	Drempel 226–263 W	Lactaatdrempel, FTP-werk, het houdbare plafond. RPE 7–8, herhalingen van 10–30 min.
Z5	VO₂max 264–300 W	Maximaal aeroob vermogen; intervallen van 3–8 min. RPE 9, heel zwaar.
Z6	Anaerobe Capaciteit 301–375 W	Anaerobe capaciteit; inspanningen van 30s–3min. RPE 9–10, bijna maximaal.
Z7	Neuromusculair Vermogen ≥ 376 W	Sprint- en neuromusculair vermogen. RPE 10, voluit gesprint.

Actief Herstel

≤ 138 W

Duurvermogen

139–188 W

Tempo

189–225 W

Drempel

226–263 W

VO₂max

264–300 W

Anaerobe Capaciteit

301–375 W

Neuromusculair Vermogen

≥ 376 W

Z1 · Actief Herstel. Herstel; laat de benen draaien zonder belasting toe te voegen. RPE 1–2, heel makkelijk.

Z2 · Duurvermogen. Aerobe basis, vetverbranding, de hele dag vol te houden tempo. RPE 3–4, pratend.

Z3 · Tempo. Aeroob duurvermogen en spierefficiëntie. RPE 5–6, comfortabel zwaar.

Z4 · Drempel. Lactaatdrempel, FTP-werk, het houdbare plafond. RPE 7–8, herhalingen van 10–30 min.

Z5 · VO₂max. Maximaal aeroob vermogen; intervallen van 3–8 min. RPE 9, heel zwaar.

Z6 · Anaerobe Capaciteit. Anaerobe capaciteit; inspanningen van 30s–3min. RPE 9–10, bijna maximaal.

Z7 · Neuromusculair Vermogen. Sprint- en neuromusculair vermogen. RPE 10, voluit gesprint.

Andrew Coggans zevenzonemodel drukt elke zone uit als een percentage van Functional Threshold Power. De Sweet Spot (220–235 W, 88–94% FTP) ligt tussen Tempo en Drempel en geeft een hoge trainingsprikkel bij matige vermoeidheid.
FTP is het vermogen dat je theoretisch ongeveer een uur zou kunnen volhouden. Hertest elke 4–6 weken; een verouderde FTP maakt elke zone verkeerd.

Een PDF met je resultaten, plus een QR-code om ze altijd opnieuw te openen.

Set FTP from a test and your endurance, tempo, threshold and VO2max zones follow. Van der Poel's versatility is an enormous FTP plus a huge anaerobic ceiling on different surfaces. Build the threshold and it pays off in a gran fondo, a criterium or a gravel event.

Watts aren't the whole story

Van der Poel says cyclocross and mountain biking are more "honest," because the strongest rider usually wins, whereas road racing is "all tactics, power meters and race radios." A big FTP is necessary but not sufficient. Handling, positioning and decisions decide races too, and his off-road skills are why he is so hard to beat when a road race gets chaotic.

2026

Tadej Pogačar had his number in the biggest one-day races. After the eighth cyclocross world title, van der Poel won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Classic. At Milan-San Remo he finished eighth, crashing inside the final 35 kilometres and then attacking on the Poggio only to be dropped by Pogačar. Second at the Tour of Flanders, again behind Pogačar. Fourth at Paris-Roubaix, which he won in 2025, after a puncture. At the Tour de France he won stage 9 and the final stage on the Champs-Élysées, the day Pogačar sealed his fifth overall title. Throughout, he stayed a year-round strength-training regular, for durability rather than bulk.

What you can steal from it

Build one broad engine. FTP is the anchor that pays off across every kind of riding.
Cross-train your handling. Gravel, MTB or cyclocross build skills that win chaotic races.
More racing isn't automatically more fitness. Even van der Poel questions whether his cross season helps his road peak.
Watts aren't everything. The strongest engine still loses to better tactics and handling.

More in this series: Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič and Demi Vollering.

Sources

Cover photo by Felouch Kotek, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.