"If we get him racing again, that in itself is a success" - Max Poole's racing return in 2026 doesn't seem likely anymore
CyclingThursday, 24 September 2026 at 01:00
There's no denying that Team Picnic PostNL finds themselves in a very unpleasant situation in the UCI ranking, barely clinging onto a top-30 spot. And their poor luck goes beyond just sports merit as their supposed main star Max Poole has raced for a whole one week this season before being struck by an illness which has not allowed the 23-year-old Brit to pin on race numbers since.
Alongside Oscar Onley, Poole formed a promising British GC duo at the Dutch team last year. Before Onley rose to a stand-out 4th place at Tour de France, Poole paved his way with an 11th place at Giro d'Italia. Picnic's future seemed secured, however Onley left to Netcompany INEOS at the end of the year despite running contract, leaving Poole as Picnic's only GC ambition... and he hasn't raced since February.
According to Matt Winston, Poole is struggling with the same problem as last year. "The virus (Epstein-Barr, ed.) he has requires a long recovery time. Every body reacts differently to it," the sports director explains to WielerFlits.
"Our team doctors, as well as other experts in this field, say that no timeline can be attached to it. You can't say: it always takes four weeks or always six months. That varies from person to person."
"Two steps forward, one step back"
It is precisely that unpredictability that makes the road back complicated. "You can start building up and then reach a point where you almost hit a limit. Then you have to ease off the gas again. Two steps forward, one step back," Winston describes the process.
By the end of April, it seemed as though Poole's return would come already at the start of summer with Giro d'Italia start among possibilties, but nothing panned out. Poole run into yet another setback caused by this persistent virus, and his preparation reset back to square one.
"Every day is different. We have to keep building him up calmly and, above all, not force anything, because that doesn't help," emphasizes Winston. "We hope, and Max hopes so himself too, that he might be able to ride a few races at the end of the season. For example, in October. But that is still very uncertain."
In any case, such a start would be mainly about getting back the racing rhythm and not much more. "We do not expect Max to get back into race condition this year. It would be more about working towards such a race and then giving it a try. That can be good for his mind and his body. But if it doesn't work, we won't force anything."
Team Picnic PostNL is in a state of disarray
Right now, the focus therefore isn't immediately on making Poole the UCI points machine Picnic would need him to be. Above all, it's necessary to build Poole back up with view to the future. Ideally, the patience will pay off with many productive years in the future.
Read also
"Sometimes it might be easy to cut corners and put a band-aid on it. That might work for a month or two, but then you’re back at square one. That is why it is important that we do this in the right way and according to the right process. Max’s long-term recovery is the most important thing."
"To race again will be a success"
"If we get him racing again, that in itself is a success," Winston continues. "We absolutely do not expect him to fly immediately."
"He is a young guy who just wants to race. That makes it very difficult. He also gets asked constantly: when are you coming back, how are things going? As a young athlete who wants nothing more than to race, that is frustrating. Especially because he is very talented."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- It's a horribly composed article. It doesn't mention his name until the third paragraph, and even then it only mentions his last name. I miss the days when we had what was called journalism.
santiagobenites23-09-2026 - My pick for the win is Isaac Del Toro, given how great he looked while winning the race in Montreal a week and a half ago. My sentimental favorite for the win is Wout Van Aert. I know that that's not going to happen, but I'm sure that a lot of cycling fans would be absolutely thrilled if he did.santiagobenites23-09-2026
- Ineos didn’t know what they had or how to handle him.mij23-09-2026
- Yes and I don’t know any female TT specificalists that are this great. Marlen is amazing, but who else? Vos is a goat but not TT.mij23-09-2026
- I don’t know who some is or are but if you read all the other reports with comments by those who were part of that peleton (and there are at least two others with quite some coverage on this website), it seems like some are happy to stay as anonymous as possible because they’re in a very tiny minority. Even the motorbike comments oppose what the anonymous some from this article are giving as an explanation. I think it’s pretty obvious, despite the Montreal course being considered too tough for him, he’s intending to give it his all. And someone capable of finishing LBL with distinctly more elevation gain 3rd shouldn’t be considered inferior to any of Remco, Wout or Seixas.Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
- I didn’t but it just confirmed that we should have been discussing what he was up to. He obviously decided stages 2-4 were of no use or interest to him in light of his plan for stage 5, or is someone going to try to convince me he woke up that morning one week before the WC and spontaneously decided he’d go for his own personal training ride during a stage race?Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
- "USA - nearly home advantage". Ha - Canadian fans likely to be booing when they see the Stars and Stripes on the road. Trump's 51st state nonsense not likely to be generating many warm fuzzy feelings between neighbours.mobk23-09-2026
- You’d have to move to the ladies to find anyone that could be considered equal in that department.Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
- If Seixas does it, it'd be meteoric, but I have to go with Pidcock as he's my home man, may the best rider win, whomever gets it, will be a valiant winner 👍
leedorney23-09-2026 - Agreed, and I wouldn’t write him off for GTs even as it gets more competitive. If you remember some, like Thomas, who started and had success on the track before slowly improving GT abilities, he should keep the options.Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
Loading
Write a comment