"Already looking forward to hit the trails again soon!" Mathieu van der Poel's spirit not broken after failed MTB return
Mountain Bike
Mathieu van der Poel's first mountain bike start in two years was the big crowd-drawer of the World Cup in Nove Mesto. The Dutchman himself approached the race with big expectations too - after all he aims for the rainbow stripes later this summer in the discipline!
However that debut went quickly off the rails as Van der Poel crashed early on in the race. And not once, but twice. Despite his best efforts later on, Van der Poel had hard time coming back into the race and half way through, he pulled out from a position deep within the field and with pain in his wrist. No happy ending for now.
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But as is evident from his latest Instagram post, the seven-time cyclocross champion's spirit cannot be broken that easily. He writes: "Had such a blast being back on the mountain bike last week! Things didn’t quite go as planned, but hey - life would be boring if everything went perfectly, right? Already looking forward to hit the trails again soon!"
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was brought to hospital for checks after the race and a wrist fracture has been revealed. But legs are fine. To prove that, the Dutchman has been already back in training on Tuesday, albeit only inside until his injury heals and he regains full control of his bicycle.
Van der Poel has only thing on his mind at the moment. Is it the Tour de France? No. He already eyes the first opportunity to bounce back from the failure and retake his rightful spot among the mountain bike elites!
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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.
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