"No more risks" - van der Poel pulled from Primus Classic in preparation for World Championships

Mathieu van der Poel has withdrawn from the Primus Classic as he looks to focus all his attention on the upcoming World Championship.

With a cold, wet and windy day predicted in Belgium the potential for injury/accident only increases. With van der Poel currently second favourite with the bookmakers for the World Championship road race, the Dutchman has taken the decision to skip the Flemish one day race.

Despite being front and centre of the pre-race poster, Alpecin-Deceuninck took the decision to replace van der Poel with 29-year old Belgian Gianni Vermeersch.  On their official twitter account the team addressed the late change saying, "The bad weather conditions add an increased risk as a nervous race can be expected" and " although Mathieu was very much looking forward to racing the Primus Classic again, it has been decided not to take any risks towards Wollongong 2022 and to consider his preparation with one last training session as completed."

Van der Poel, who finished 8th at last year's Primus Classic will now have a week to prepare ready for Sunday the 25th of September, his shot at cycling immortality and the chance to add the road race rainbow jersey to his 4 Cyclocross World Championship wins.