Nils van der Poel is currently preparing in Inzell, Germany, where he is running a training camp ahead of the Olympics.
Many of his competitors choose to participate in this weekend's European Championships in 5000 meters - but not Nils van der Poel.
“The European Distance Championships are poorly placed in the calendar for my Olympic preparations.
The championship itself has no tradition in the skating world and I personally think that we should close down both the distance and all-round European Championships to counteract inflation in championships - so that the World Cup and the World Cup / Olympics have a higher status.
In addition, there are no significant financial incentives to participate.
Based on all this, I mostly see disadvantages of participating in the competition ", van der Poel writes to SVT Sport and sends a smile.
DOCUMENT: This is Nils van der Poel (15 Feb 2021)
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Document: Nils van der Poel - a rare bird
"Looking forward to following Ekensskär"
"It is of course a pity that whoever now wins 5,000m will hear 'But van der Poel was not there'.
Hopefully, ISU can create a more attractive competition program in the coming years with competitions that are important.
In any case, I look forward to following the competition, above all it will be fun to see Wilhelm Ekensskär on the starting line.
It will also be interesting to see how my colleagues' form curves look like this in the face of what is to come, ”concludes the world record holder in both 5,000 and 10,000 meters.