Mathieu Van der Poel, who is one of the famous cyclo-cross stars, hopes to be present at the Olympic Games in Rio. The Dutchman wants to be present at the start of the mountain bike race this summer. He told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad about this goal.

"In the coming weeks I want to do my first races as a mountain biker. And not just that. The aim is to earn selection for the Games in Rio de Janeiro", he explained. "I have not really done a lot with the mountain bike in the past and certainly not in competition. But the possibility of selection for the Games is motivating. I would die to go to Rio."

"It is not yet 100 per cent certain which races he'll do," Van der Poel's coach at the BKCP Corendon team, Christoph Roodhooft, said. "But it seems an ideal target to work towards. Mathieu was also in the pre-selection for the Olympic road race, but this seems more feasible."