Mathieu van der Poel Explains Why He Skips Canadian One-Day Races and Returns to the Tour de Luxembourg to Build Towards the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal

Mathieu van der Poel Explains Why He Skips Canadian One-Day Races and Returns to the Tour de Luxembourg to Build Towards the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal

Mathieu van der Poel has chosen a different route towards the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, turning away from the Canadian one-day races in Québec and Montréal and instead returning to the Tour de Luxembourg.

The decision has attracted attention because the Canadian races would appear to offer an obvious opportunity to prepare for a world championship. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, in particular, shares important characteristics with the World Championships circuit. Yet Van der Poel and Alpecin-Premier Tech have opted for a five-day European stage race, giving him a different type of preparation before the September 27 road race.

Van der Poel is scheduled to race the Tour de Luxembourg from September 16 to 20. That means his final competitive outing will come exactly one week before the World Championships. Rather than travelling to Canada earlier in September for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on September 11 and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on September 13, he will remain in Europe for longer before making the trip to Montréal.

The Tour de Luxembourg gives Van der Poel five consecutive days of racing, with a mixture of terrain that can provide repeated opportunities to build race rhythm and endurance. The 2026 route includes a hilly opening stage, two longer road stages, a 20.4-kilometre individual time trial and a final stage. It is a varied block of racing that allows him to sharpen his condition without committing to an earlier transatlantic trip.

There is also a familiar element to the decision. Van der Poel used the Tour de Luxembourg as part of his preparation for the 2024 World Championships in Zürich. Two years ago, he won the opening stage, took the points classification and finished second overall. One week later, he claimed the bronze medal at the World Championships, behind Tadej Pogačar and Ben O’Connor.

That previous experience makes Luxembourg a logical choice for a rider who knows what he wants from his final racing block. It also gives him a proven template rather than forcing him to follow the preparation methods of his rivals.

Van der Poel’s return to road racing comes after an unsuccessful mountain bike World Championships campaign. He finished 30th in the cross-country event at Val di Sole after entering the race with limited World Cup competition in his legs. His focus now switches firmly back to the road and the opportunity to challenge for another rainbow jersey.

The Dutchman arrives at this phase of the season in the coming weeks with an impressive road record. Earlier in 2026, he won his third E3 Saxo Classic and took two Tour de France stage victories, including the prestigious final stage in Paris.

His objective in Montréal will be a second elite road world title, having won the rainbow jersey in Glasgow in 2023. The 2026 men’s road race will cover 273.7 kilometres and feature a demanding circuit around Mount Royal.

Van der Poel’s decision means he will miss the chance to race the Montréal roads at full intensity before the Worlds, something several rivals will do through the Canadian classics. Instead, he is trusting a preparation plan that worked for him in 2024: a concentrated block of racing in Luxembourg, followed by a week to recover, reset and target the one-day race of his season.

With the World Championships approaching, the choice is clear. Van der Poel is not simply adding races to his calendar; he is selecting the timing and workload he believes will give him the best chance of arriving in Montréal ready to fight for the rainbow jersey.