Mathieu van der Poel has announced he will ride the Tour of Britain this September before attempting to secure the road race World Championships in Yorkshire later that month.
The talented Dutch rider has confirmed that he will compete for the Netherlands at the road World Championships despite it falling just a week before the Olympic cross country mountain bike test event in Tokyo, Japan.
As a compromise, Van der Poel will miss the mountain bike World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada at the end of August.
In a press release by his Corendon-Circus team, they confirmed that Van der Poel would continue to race mountain bike throughout the summer before switching back to the road at the Arctic Race of Norway in mid-August.
From there, the 24-year-old will compete at the Tour of Britain between the 7th and 14th September before focusing on the World Championships road race in Harrogate on the 29th September.
Racing the Worlds in Yorkshire will see Van der Poel miss the final round of the mountain bike World Cup in Snowshoe, USA, but the multi-discipline rider cannot ignore how suited he is to the Yorkshire Worlds course.
'Of course, I think it is a shame that I have to ignore the mountain bike World Cup, but choices have to be made. I cannot deny that the World Championships course in Yorkshire should be for me, so this year I am resolutely choosing the road,' said Van der Poel.
'I also want to be absolutely present at the test event in Tokyo, the Olympic Games of 2020 are still the big goal. Combining the three events is not feasible.'
Van der Poel's decision to focus on the road came after a conversation with Koos Moerenhout at the Dutch cycling federation.
Moerenhout is pleased to have convinced the talented rider to focus on the road and believes he has a shot at the rainbow jersey.
'I am glad that we can include Mathieu in the Dutch selection for Yorkshire. I am convinced that we are leaving with a strong team and with Van der Poel on the side, the strength of the Dutch team is only increasing.'
Van der Poel had a short yet phenomenal road season this Spring which included victories at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race.
He also finished fourth at the Tour of Flanders despite crashing and chasing solo for around 50km.