After Mathieu van der Poel and Lars van der Haar... Duinencross Koksijde has Thibau Nys also absent last-minute

The Duinencross Koksijde is one of the most iconic races of the cyclocross season but this afternoon it will miss some of the action that was initially expected. After Thibau Nys has been confirmed to miss the race, it is the third big star confirmed to opt out in the space of only 24 hours.

It is a tough hit for the X2O Badkamers Trofee race which will miss several of it's big figures for the men's race. Mathieu van der Poel has decided to skip the race after he got injured in a crash before new year and is still recovering; whilst Lars van der Haar is also suffering from a banged up knee. After having missed out on the race in Baal, there was little point to continue pursuing a classification in the cup. Michael Vanthourenhout will also not be present, previously announced, as he decides to focus on the World Cup fully.

The Baloise Glowi Lions have confirmed that European Champion Thibau Nys will also not race this Friday, having gotten ill over the last few days. The race will have Eli Iserbyt start in the cup lead, the Belgian champion made a strong comeback with a triumph at the GP Sven Nys two days ago.

“Thibau did not feel well this morning and tried it on the rollers anyway. But after the warm-up it turned out that he has not recovered enough. And so he will not be present in Koksijde," the team stated.