“This is really disappointing" - Mathieu van der Poel suffers further injury setback

Mathieu van der Poel's cyclocross winter continues to be a disrupted one over recent days. After returning to the discipline in typically dominant style last month, the world champion is now set to miss another race due to injury.

"Mathieu van der Poel’s rib problems persist, causing significant discomfort, particularly on heavier terrain. As a result, he will not participate in tomorrow’s X2O Badkamers Trofee in Koksijde," announces Alpecin-Deceuninck on their official social media channels, not completely ruling out further withdrawals. "Regarding his participation in World Cup Dendermonde (Sunday), Mathieu and the team will make a decision on Saturday."

“This is really disappointing because Koksijde is one of my favorite races,” Van der Poel himself adds in the post. “It’s where I won my first world title, for example. But it’s just too soon. I hope to be ready for Dendermonde, although I fear it will be a close call.”

Read also

Alpecin-Deceuninck boss explains Mathieu van der Poel injury: "This is of course not pleasant for him, but there's nothing we can do about it"

World Cup leader Vanthourenhout skips another X2O Trofee round - Belgian won't race against van der Poel in Koksijde

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