This winter Mike Teunissen will do a number of cyclo-cross races, just like compatriots Lars Boom and Boy van Poppel. Teunissen also plays with the idea of taking part in the World Championships, but is realistic. "I consider this unlikely, because I'm not obsessed about this," he tells Wielerflits.

This year a number of road riders will return to the field. "Why it is so is a very good question, actually. I also saw that Lars (Boom, ed.) and Boy (van Poppel, ed.) will return to their real roots. Ramon Sinkeldam also does it occasionally and Maurits Lammertink can still be seen in the field. My opinion is that it can be quite a valuable addition in the winter as preparation for the road season. All the guys who do it, are pretty explosive. That's what Lars said - that he missed a bit of explosiveness.”

"That's one of the reasons for me to say: 'I think it is good to maintain that skill.’ In the winter you do mainly long endurance training so it is certainly good to get some power out occasionally,” explains the Dutchman. "You can do so on a mountain in Spain, but also with a cross race. That effort is still very different, and I think it is good. It is useful for the spring classics and actually for every difficult race. I think the rest of the guys have now also realized that." Teunissen has already raced in Hellendoorn and Boxtel where he took the win and will then ride in Reusel, Surhuisterveen, possibly Schijndel and the Dutch Championships.

The last time Teunissen did some cyclo-cross was in the winter of 2013-2014 but he doesn’t have the best of memories. While he held the world title after the win, his year in the rainbow jersey went wrong due to lots of bad luck. Even though he will be fully focused on the road, Teunissen can’t stop thing about the 2016 World Championships. "Oh, I have certainly thought about doing it. But I see the chance as I have to prove to be in the top eight riders of the Netherlands during these next few weeks. If you look at it, I do not think it's an option for me to go to Zolder. It used to be easier to say, 'Hey, I'm going to do the World Cyclo-Cross Championships. Nowadays there are plenty of good cyclo-cross riders.”

This means that the former U23 world and European champion might come up short. “You know what the goal is: I'm preparing myself for the road season. That is why I find it very interesting that Lars is now so eager to do the World Championships and wants to do well. I wonder if it is possible to be really good at the Worlds. It is hard to do something there and then also still be good in Flanders and Roubaix. Lars is more experienced than me and of course very special so for the same money he can do well in Zolder and he be strong in April. But I think it is a very long period to remain good. I will just do the traditional warm-up in February, then improve in March to reach April in my top form.”

But Teunissen does not rule the Worlds completely out. If coach Johan Lammerts will select him, the rider of LottoNL-Jumbo is open. "It depends mor on how it will go for me. When I'm on the podium at the Dutch Championships and it turns out that I can be reasonably near the front, there is maybe still something to think about. But I regard that chance as small because I've hardly trained for it and I'm not focused on it. Furthermore, the level in cross is just very, very high. If everything goes well, I'm not saying I will not do it. There is room for that because I will only do my first road race one or two weeks after the Worlds so it would fit in just fine.”

The coach is aware of Teunissen’s plans and welcomes them. "In fact, I hope he will do even more races.. Mike is indeed on my long list of candidates for the Worls. But at the same time he also knows what he must do and what I want to see from him." To qualify, the 23-year-old Dutchman has to finish in the top 16 in two World Cup races. Nevertheless, it may not be necessary after all. "I may make an exception to that rule. Basically, I would be allowed to do that for a total of three riders. Lars Boom now qualifies for that kind of exception as he unfortunately has to skip the World Cup in Namur, but it could be the same for Mike.

The coach then goes on to explain how the selection process works. "According to the regulations of the UCI, the three best Dutchmen in the rankings are automatically qualified for the Worlds. At the moment, they are Mathieu van der Poel, Lars van der Haar and David van der Poel. Normally I would be allowed to select another three riders, but because Mathieu is world champion and Lars is European champion, I can select two additional riders. Of the five places that are left, I may select up to three riders who do not comply with the rule that you have to finish in the top 16 of a World Cup race twice. And Mike could be one of them. He has been part of the talent group at KNWU (the Dutch federation, ed.) so I know his qualities.”

Teunissen gets his cross equipment from the team. "I was fairly surprised. I've always done cross on a Giant and they are very good bikes. But Bianchi's don’t perform any poorer. I'd just like to have disc brakes, but I could not get them so quickly. It was because I just suddenly said ‘Hey guys, actually I also need a cross bike’. Therefore, I have to make it work with conventional brake pads, but it might be better because I'm used to this braking system. Furthermore, I often alternate between the cross and road bike. With disc brakes you have other handlebars and you also need to brake differently so it might be better to do these weeks with regular brakes. Maybe we can change it sometime next year, but this winter I am more than fine with what I’ve got.”

While disc brakes are used a lot in cyclo-cross, their introduction in road cycling is a hot topic.

"If I could choose, I would prefer not to use them. As I see it, it is pushed through by some of the manufacturers. But I mainly think that the whole braking discussion is a bit exaggerated. You can get good braking systems which are now on the market. But in the rain going disc brakes will be an advantage. Conversely, however, the bike is heavier. So if you want to do it, you have to think carefully about it, not like now who it is 50-50. That will lead to dangerous situations in which one rider (with disc brakes, ed.) can brake harder than the others.

"And that is quite disastrous," says Teunissen. "And then there are the crashes. I think that it is easy to imagine what can happen. If we all crash together and you get hit by such a disk in a bit wrong place, I think it can lead to quite severe injuries. But that must happen three times before everyone realizes the danger. I find it a little too short-sighted to push through with this. It's a bit played down because we do a test year in 2016 to see how it goes. Anyway, we'll see. I've certainly never had any problems with the current way of braking. I think the value is a lot smaller than in cyclo-cross or mountain biking, although it will come sooner or later anyway."