Sunday is the day: Mathieu van der Poel will make his long-awaited comeback in Koksijde. "It would be criminal if I can already cause troubles for Wout van Aert," said the 20-year-old Van der Poel in a chat with the press.

For the first time this season the rainbow jersey will be on show in a cyclo-cross race at Sunday's World Cup race in Koksijde. Mathieu van der Poel has a burning desireafter a knee operation and a solid rehabilitation.

"I do have some serious conditional backlog," Van der Poel told several media, including Sporza. "Therefore, I have no idea about what I can expect on Sunday.

"I'm more nervous for Sunday than for the World Championships in Tabor (where Van der Poel won the rainbow jersey earlier this year, ed). If I do not finish in the top, I'll be very disappointed."

Van der Poel hopes he can make his rainbow jersey shine during the Christmas period. "It would be criminal if I can already cause troubles for Wout van Aert.

"During the Christmas season I want to be at my best again. I can still win some nice races in the major series and also dream of the championships.

"Whether I can be world champion in Heusden-Zolder? Yes. But I realize that I will have many ups and downs in the first few weeks. One week it can go very well, while the following week can be seriously disappointing."

In the Van der Poel family, they are happy that Mathieu will soon be away from home a bit more. "Only our dog was happy that I was so much at home," laughed Van der Poel.

"What my day looked like during the first three weeks after the surgery? Get up, have breakfast, sit in the office and realize that you cannot do anything else for the rest of the day.

"That's sad for a young guy like me, but I could kill some time by watching movies."

But every disadvantage has its advantage. "I didn't have to wash my rainbow jersey often," joked Van der Poel, who showed a black version of his jersey at the press conference.

"I asked them to make the black version and find that jersey nicer than my original rainbow jersey. But I can only wear the black jersey in training as it is not allowed in competition."