In over two hours of incredibly exciting racing, Tom Pidcock of France defeated Victor Koretzky to retain his gold medal in the men’s mountain biking at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Mathieu van der Poel, though, was one man who was not there at the starting line. Like Pidcock, the Dutchman’s original intention was to race on both the road and the mountain bike. But in the end, Van der Poel’s only competition at these Olympics is the road race. Through remarks compiled by Wielerflits, he regretfully acknowledges, “I would have liked to ride there.” “Mountain biking is definitely what I would have chosen if given the option. But given the circumstances this year, it was a little challenging. I regretted not being there.
Van der Poel was a participant in the test event staged in 2023, despite his initial doubts about competing in the mountain biking event at the Olympics. He says, “So I know that course.” “I could have had an advantage because the race was really close at first. Of course, you can’t tell until you actually go there. However, I truly would have liked to take part in this mountain bike competition.
Van der Poel isn’t fully ruling out a comeback to mountain biking in order to fight for gold in Los Angeles, America in 2028, despite the fact that he will be 33 years old by then. I haven’t used my mountain bike since the previous year’s Olympic test event. Thus, I’m hoping to ride a little bit more in the future,” he says. It’s a marginally easier option if the road course in Los Angeles is exceptionally challenging. Then maybe we can start talking about mountain riding a little earlier. I believe that I will be approaching the conclusion of my career in four years. Then, I believe that competing in the mountain bike sport at the Olympic Games would be a wonderful objective.
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