Confirmed! Mathieu van der Poel joins Pogacar at Criterium du Dauphiné 2025

Mathieu van der Poel's recovery from his wrist injury is complete, and just in time too. The Dutchman has completed a miraculous rehabilitation after his mountain bike crash in May, and will be at the Criterium du Dauphiné 2025, from June 8 to 15.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck superstar's goal will be to reach his best level ahead of the Grand Départ of the next Tour de France. There, Van der Poel will once again be key to the Belgian team's objectives, and this year he may be able to hunt stage wins for himself.

The official announcement of Alpecin's line-up confirmed the return of Mathieu van der Poel, who was injured in a Mountain Bike World Cup race in Nové Mesto, "Mathieu has recovered sufficiently from his injury," reads the statement.

Van der Poel was spotted by a cyclotourist training on Spanish roads just a week after his wrist fracture, accompanied by Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel.The Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix winner was not even using support for his arm, suggesting that his recovery was either complete or in its final stages.

Thus, the line-up for the Criterium du Dauphiné is even stronger than expected. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Enric Mas, Carlos Rodriguez, Lenny Martinez, Santiago Buitrago and company are joined by the legend that is Mathieu van der Poel.

Jasper Philipsen will not be in the race. The 6 riders who will join Van der Poel in the Alpecin Deceuninck lineup are: Tobias Bayer, Lars Boven, Michael Gogi, Xandro Meurisse, Johan Price-Pejtersen and Gianni Vermeersch.