Mathieu Van Der Poel Signs With Alpecin Fenix Until 2025
The Alpecin Fenix team has announced it has signed Mathieu Van Der Poel for a further four seasons.
Van der Poel has been part of the Belgian outfit for the past ten years and will now continue to race in their colours until the end of 2025. The 26-year-old will probably have courted offers from some of the biggest teams in road cycling but probably stuck with the second-tier UCI ProTeam as it allows him the freedom to largely dictate his racing calendar as we saw this year following his withdrawal from the Tour de France to prepare for the Olympics.
Alpecin Fenix has expanded its mountain bike roster in recent years with the recent additions of Sam Gaze and Ronja Eibl, and it seems Van der Poel will continue to be a regular face at World Cups too. He confirmed in the announcement that he was planning on racing mountain bikes until at least the Paris 2024 Olympics and that one of his goals is to be the World Champion in three disciplines - cyclocross, mountain bike and road.
 | I’m very happy to have signed this long-term contract with a team that feels like my second family. I’m really enjoying myself at Alpecin-Fenix. The team has developed fantastically in the last years – simultaneously with the progress I’ve been making – and are still getting better and stronger each year. It's quite unique that I've been riding for the same team for so long and that I'll continue to do so for another four years. Who knows I will have raced for only one team in my entire career? I try not to think too far ahead but becoming world champion in three different disciplines in the coming years would be a dream come true. I’ll most likely continue to combine road cycling, cyclo-cross and mountain bike until Paris 2024. |
| We want to be a stable team and continue to grow. Mathieu is one of the pillars of our team, so it is important to have that certainty of him staying with us for four more years in order to further expand the team. Sponsors, teammates, etc. get a strong signal from him as the team leader by extending his engagement. |
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bear in mind he was racing a BMC for mtb, Specialized for cyclocross and Pinarello for road .. . . ..Im intrigued what will happen for the 2022 season - ie still has race support from Ineos in terms of kit, branded paddock set up in all 3 disciplines?
Pauline Ferrand Prevot was not held back in season when she was the first ever triple world champion, and that was her goal so why would any other team not follow?
It's blank next to Pidcocks name because Ineos is not registered as a UCI MTB team. Maybe they will do that for next year or maybe they wont. We will find out next year. I hope we see pidcock continue on the MTB WC circuit as well but with no olympics next year, Ineos may not see it as worth it. They are at the end of the day, a Road WT team. If they feel mtb or Cross is a having a negative effect on Ineos road campaigns, they will reign that in.
As accomplished as PFP is, you cant compare the mens WT to the Womens WT. There is a reason until MVDP came along that talk of a Triple World champ was non existent. It's because once a WT signs a rider from the cross or mtb world, they expect that rider to be a road rider. Pidcock and MVDP are the exception to the old rule, not a new rule for other riders.
I'm still in awe from MVDP Amstel Gold race from 2019, shame his 2021 season has been a long sting of unfortunalities in both road and mtb
With Olympics out the way for sure 2022/23 will be an exciting cycling season to watch
100% xc and cx have been undoubtedly more exciting to watch these last few seasons, not just for the men!
Canyon would be proud to have a second ever 3 world title holder in one season
Can Sagan also enter the chat?
Plus his Andorra video that was recently shown he still has the passion for MTB - specialized needs someone to compete in the xc field for sure, would like to see him competing in the xcc seeing as Kershbaumer are not troubling the podium positions this season, Sarrou and Sina Frei on the other had ..... pretty damn good!
Also, Van der Poel already earned allmost just as much as Van Aert, who has a similar background (except for MTB) and is with an acknowlegded 'big team'. With the renewal, his contract probably is even better and these figures are always estimations. Private sponsorship allways brings in a load of cash and MvdP's marketing value is probably higher than anyone out there.
(Sidenote: The top 20 pro salary ranking contains a lot of riders that used to be good but lost their shine. I'd hate to be the employer of Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Peter Sagan or Greg van Aevermaet right now, to name a few)