Mathieu van der Poel could make Grand Tour debut in 2020

Mathieu van der Poel could make his Grand Tour debut at the 2020 Vuelta a España, according to his team.

The 24-year-old star of cyclocross, mountain bike and road racing has huge ambitions for next season, including winning Olympic gold and taking on his first three-week race.

Van der Poel’s Corendon-Circus team boss, Christoph Roodhooft, has revealed plans to shoot for a wildcard spot in the 2020 Vuelta, which starts in the Netherlands, but says the team first need to expand its roster.

Roodhoft told Dutch broadcast NOS: “[The Vuelta] is a specific goal for our team.

“We want to have a number of riders there. Those riders have to take the wind out of the sails of Mathieu, both in mountain biking and road cycling.”

Corendon is looking to expand from 20 riders to 25 in order to support Van der Poel, who took major victories this season including Amstel Gold Race and the overall at the Tour of Britain (along with three stages).

Van der Poel raced his first cyclocross event of the 2019/2020 season on Sunday (November 3), in Ruddervoorde, Belgium, where he took an emphatic victory over Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal).

The Dutchman has started his cross season late, taking time to rest after an outstanding summer on the road and on the mountain bike.

He is now looking to defend his cyclocross world title in Dübendorf, Switzerland during the first weekend of February.

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Next season is expected to be a big one for Van der Poel, as he hopes for glory in Paris-Roubaix and then the Olympic mountain bike event in Tokyo, before looking to a possible ride in the Vuelta.

Roodhoft added: “He has to train well this winter, especially with the road season and the games in mind. The evolution towards the road will be started a little further next season.”