"It takes away the euphoria of last Sunday" - Dutch coach confides Mathieu van der Poel was shook more mentally than physically after his MTB crash

What should have been a memorable day for national coach Gerben de Knegt and his mountain bike group Mathieu van de Poel, turned into a disappointment in Tweed Valley on Saturday. De Knegt saw his leader fall in the first three minutes of the World Championships race, which immediately ended the dream he had the night before.

De Knegt was very optimistic about Dutchman's chances before the race which quickly changed as after a good start, Van der Poel moved landed on his right side and immediately left the race. De Knegt immediately saw that it was not good as he confided to In de Leiderstrui.

“He had a good start, but then he was on the ground. That sucked for a while," said the national coach of the Dutch off-road team. "It hurt him a lot. I was a bit lower and I didn't see him coming through anymore, but luckily I wasn't so far away. So I was there fairly quickly," said De Knegt, who immediately said that the physical damage was relatively minor.

"Mathieu was in pain for a while, but it was mostly a shame. It's not good, it takes away the euphoria of last Sunday and the fun week here that followed," De Knegt remarked visibly disappointed. "We had hoped for a place between ten and fifteen, then he would have done very well."