Mathieu van der Poel under fire from rider he crashed: "Some riders do not respect their colleagues for who they are"

Mathieu van der Poel's return to Mountain Biking had virtually the worst outcome he could've expected, but besides that, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider didn't make any friends either. After he caused a crash in the group, Spaniard David Valero was vocal in the criticism of the Dutch star.

Van der Poel abandoned the race after two crashes in the opening minutes of the race. The second was the worst, and the one that caused the withdrawal from the race and the injuries that are currently putting his Tour de France at risk.

However the first he did not fall alone. Not being a regular in the field, van der Poel had a modest starting position, and in an attempt to gain positions in the packed peloton over the start of the race, he bumped into David Valero, causing both to crash. Whilst the consequences of the fall were not big, it earned him harsh criticism.

36-year old Valero shared a message on Instagram following the race where he didn't directly name van der Poel, but the message was very clearly about him. "I'm disappointed with the race I had today, especially with some riders who don't respect their teammates for who they are," he wrote. "I appreciate them coming to race and giving full visibility to the Mountain Bike World Series, which is very important. But respect!!!"

You can see a video of the incident below: