Setback for cycling star Mathieu van der Poel. As his team Alpecin-Deceuninck announced, the Belgian has to cancel his start at the X20 Trofee in Koksijde (Belgium) due to a rib injury.
“This is very disappointing because Koksijde is one of my favorite races. Among other things, I won my first world championship title there. But it just comes too soon,” said the 2023 road world champion and six-time cyclocross champion.
According to van der Poel, he still has problems, especially “on uneven terrain”. According to the 29-year-old, his start at the World Cup in Dendermonde on January 5th is also questionable. “Secretly I hope I will be ready for Dendermonde, even if I fear it will be borderline,” he said.
If van der Poel were also out in Dendermonde, he would not compete until the World Cup on January 25th in Maasmechelen. Until then, a training camp in Spain is planned.
After that, in addition to the race in Maasmechelen, van der Poel also has the World Cup in Hoogerheide on January 26th as a dress rehearsal for the World Cross Country Championships in Liévin (February 2nd). In France, van der Poel wants to win his seventh world cross-country title.
Van der Poel with rib injury
Van der Poel injured his ribs in a fall at the Eaxct Cross in Loenhout at the end of 2024 and hit a track post. The Belgian plans to take part in eleven cross-country races this winter, with the World Championships as the highlight.
Van der Poel is one of cycling’s great all-rounders, having achieved prestigious successes both on and off-road. In addition to six World Championship titles in cyclocross, he also won the Gravel World Championship last year, and on the road he won the world champion’s rainbow jersey in 2023.
With Milan-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, van der Poel has already won three of the five cycling monuments.