Mathieu van der Poel's miraculous recovery: Already training outside five days after breaking wrist!
Mountain Bike
Mathieu van der Poel's miraculous recovery continues. The Dutchman suffered an injury on his return to mountain bike racing. But not even week has passed and despite fracturing his wrist, Van der Poel is already training on the bike.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck star competed in a MTB World Cup in Nove Mesto last Saturday, thinking it would his first step towards completing his collection of rainbow jerseys. However, he suffered two crashes, and ended up in hospital.
Read also
Only 24 hours after being diagnosed with the wrist injury, Van der Poel has already started training on the stationary bike, splint included.
And 5 days later he has been seen outdoors training in Spain, without the brace. Van der Poel was photographed by a cyclist on Spanish roads in the company of Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe).
Mathieu van der Poel's goal is to be fit for the Tour de France starting in just a little bit over month from now. The doctors said that his participation was very well possible, but that he would be substancially affected by this injury. However, their calculations forgot to put into equation that we're dealing with a superhuman to whom norms do not apply.
For Van der Poel, the main goal at the Grande Boucle will be to help Jasper Philipsen regain the throne in the Points Classification. Last year, the Belgian was unable to defend the title he won in 2023, when Biniam Girmay made history by proclaiming himself the winner. But for the 2025 edition, Alpecin wants everything to go back to normal.
In addition, Mathieu van der Poel is also expected to compete for his own objectives, looking for at least one or two stage victories that will continue to add to a record dominated by one-day races.
Read also

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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
- This is an amazing route, honestly. Let's hope that it attracts riders to make it a compelling and competitive race. Side bar amusement: going to Slovenia and passing pretty close to Pogačar's house. I wonder if they were tempting him to get all 3 jerseys at once after winning the Tour and Vuelta. After all, only a very few have ever had all three at the same time (Froome being the last).RidesHills03-11-2026
- He was a child two years ago
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route aswell. Col d'Arpy is a toughie
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - Let Torito have a shot at it
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route, much more exciting than the Tour de France. Monte Livata is an interesting one, because they experimented with it at the 2026 Baby Giro, and it was fantastic. 4 km at 10%, then 10 km at 6.5% made for a great spectacle. The stage 16 is horrible. Montaner is also used in the U23s, in Giro del Belvedere
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - I remember when Mark went through that. He was really experiencing lows and thought about quiting many times. It took him a long time to recover. I, like many others were overjoyed when he came back. I hope Lafay has been tested. I wish him the best.Paggss03-11-2026
- That sucks for him. I've always wondered what guys like him do after retiring from cycling - go back to uni? He's still a very young manCrashjames03-11-2026
- Good Point, I wonder if he's been testedmhfrvz03-11-2026
- A busy boy!Lozza03-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment









