He Doesn’t Just Make Rivals Suffer—Now He’s Pushed Himself to the Brink: Inside Mathieu van der Poel’s Ruthless Training Regimen That Left Even the Champion ‘Cooked’ Before the Season Truly Begins
Mathieu van der Poel has never been known for moderation. The Dutch phenomenon doesn’t ride to conserve; he rides to conquer. In races, he doesn’t merely attack—he detonates. But as 2025’s cycling calendar unfurls with new ambitions and monumental pressure, the question emerges: is the man who turns pain into poetry finally pushing himself too far? The champion who has made a career out of making others suffer has now admitted something few expected: he’s cooked. In a revealing moment of candor following an intense pre-season block of training, Van der Poel confessed, “The kitchen is reopened.” The phrase was both a tongue-in-cheek nod to his own suffering and a signal flare to the cycling world—he’s gone deep, maybe too deep.
This is the story of Van der Poel’s brutal training block, what it says about the demands on modern cycling’s most versatile athlete, and whether the fire that’s forged his greatness is beginning to consume him from within.
The Furnace of Expectation
Every season, expectations around Van der Poel reach near-mythical levels. And it’s no wonder—few riders have accomplished what he has across multiple disciplines. Cyclocross world titles. Monument victories like the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Dominance on the road, terror on the trails, and unrivaled explosiveness in the one-day classics.
But in 2025, the stakes are higher than ever. Rumors swirl about a push for the World Championships, a Tour de France stage hunt, and a potential Olympic campaign. The calendar is packed. The spotlight blinding. And Van der Poel, rather than easing into the year with a structured taper or cautious buildup, lit the burner straight away.
January and February saw the Dutchman dive headfirst into one of the most intense and solitary training camps of his career. The location—undisclosed at first—was later revealed to be in the brutal terrain of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The altitude, the wind, the isolation—it was all part of the plan. The goal? Forge an unbreakable base, one that could withstand the assaults of cobbled classics, mountainous Grand Tour stages, and the relentless pressure of media and fan expectations.
But as the world would soon learn, even Van der Poel has a limit.
Data-Driven Destruction
Inside sources at Alpecin-Deceuninck shared that Van der Poel’s training data during this block left even hardened performance coaches raising eyebrows. Multiple six-hour days. Back-to-back intervals. FTP (Functional Threshold Power) tests that hovered near his all-time best. The aim was not just to build fitness—it was to break barriers.
On one now-infamous day, Van der Poel completed a simulated classic—240 kilometers, punctuated with hill repeats and wind sprints designed to replicate the Tour of Flanders. The ride ended with him sprawled out next to his bike, a shell of the titan we see on television.
“He wasn’t just cooked,” one team insider said. “He was charred.”
In a moment of fatigue-induced honesty, Van der Poel reportedly muttered, “Kitchen reopened,” referring to the pain he was dishing out—this time to himself. The phrase stuck. It became a meme within the team, but also a symbol of concern. Was the fire still under control? Or had it become a wildfire?
The Mental Toll of a Multidiscipline King
For Van der Poel, training isn’t just physical—it’s psychological warfare. A rider who has competed year-round, switching between cyclocross, mountain biking, and road racing, carries a unique burden. There are no true off-seasons. No long breaks to recover. Each discipline demands not only different fitness but different psychology.
In road races, Van der Poel must be tactical, enduring long stretches of conserved effort before unleashing his power. In cyclocross, it’s all-out from the gun—45 minutes of anaerobic chaos. Mountain biking requires technical finesse, explosive climbs, and constant risk. Balancing the three is a logistical nightmare. Doing so at the top level for years is borderline superhuman.
And yet, the Dutchman has done it all. Until now.
“He’s not tired of racing,” said longtime friend and rival Wout van Aert. “But I think he’s tired of chasing something undefined. Glory? Perfection? It’s a dangerous cycle.”
Social Media Smokescreen
From the outside, fans were oblivious to Van der Poel’s internal struggle. His Instagram page showed him riding through golden sunrises, sipping espresso in minimalist cafes, and dropping teammates with effortless power. But the reality was far darker. Sleep became erratic. Recovery slowed. And for the first time in years, Van der Poel skipped a scheduled start—not due to injury or illness, but burnout.
When asked about the decision, he smiled faintly and said, “Sometimes even the chef needs to leave the kitchen.”
The metaphor, once playful, had become serious. Van der Poel was cooked. His body was giving signals: tightness in the lower back, lingering fatigue, mental fuzziness. His team made the decision to pull him from racing temporarily, opting instead for a period of monitored recovery.
The reaction from fans was supportive—but also surprised. How could a rider who had been so dominant, so indestructible, suddenly hit the wall?
The Shadow of Greatness
Every era of cycling has its icons—Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Lance Armstrong. These were riders who pushed beyond the limits of physiology into something that resembled obsession. Van der Poel, many believed, was their modern-day heir. A man not content with being good in one area but hellbent on being the best at everything.
But this obsession with greatness can be both gift and curse.
In pushing himself to the brink in training, Van der Poel has raised uncomfortable questions about modern cycling’s expectations. Are we asking too much of our stars? Is the calendar too crowded? Is social media adding invisible pressure, turning recovery into content and pain into performance?
For Van der Poel, the lines have blurred.
A Glimpse into the Future
Despite the current fatigue, insiders say Van der Poel is recovering well. Shorter rides. Improved sleep. Laughter returning to training camps. His body is healing—but perhaps more importantly, so is his mind.
There’s talk of a new approach: smarter scheduling, more targeted racing, and possibly a sabbatical from cyclocross. The goal is no longer to dominate every start line, but to pick battles worthy of his energy. The Olympics remain a carrot on the horizon, as does another tilt at the rainbow jersey in the World Championships.
His coach, Kristof De Kegel, summarized the shift in mentality: “Mathieu doesn’t need to prove he’s the best. He needs to remember why he started riding in the first place.”
It’s a profound statement. One that suggests a re-centering of priorities, a pivot from external glory to internal fulfillment. Perhaps Van der Poel’s greatest race in 2025 won’t be on cobbles or in mountain passes—but against burnout, and the silent toll of trying to be everything to everyone.
The Legacy Question
Even in this moment of temporary weakness, Van der Poel’s legacy remains secure. His highlights reel is among the most thrilling in modern cycling. His solo victory in Strade Bianche. That sprint win in Milan-San Remo. The savage attack on the Paterberg. The Tour de France yellow jersey. The world title in cyclocross. The sheer number of disciplines in which he has been elite is unmatched in this generation.
But legacies aren’t just about wins. They’re about vulnerability, resilience, and humanity. In sharing his own “cooked” moment, Van der Poel has done something rare: reminded fans that even the gods of the sport are still human.
Perhaps that’s the most compelling chapter in his story so far.
Conclusion: The Kitchen Stays Open
Mathieu van der Poel will return. That much is certain. Whether he wins again is less important than how he rides—freed from the shackles of overtraining, realigned with joy, and renewed in purpose.
As for the kitchen? It remains open. But this time, the chef is cooking with care.
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