Mathieu van der Poel will have to skip the X2O Trophy cross in Baal on New Year's Day. The Dutch rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck, the clear favorite for the GP Sven Nys, is struggling with the consequences of a crash in Loenhout. Van der Poel is bothered by his rib, reports his team.
"Unfortunately, 2025 doesn't start as we had hoped," said Alpecin-Deceuninck. "World champion Van der Poel will not participate in the X2O Trophy Baal today. Mathieu is experiencing significant rib pain, a lingering effect of his crash in Loenhout where he struck a pole."
"The discomfort has worsened over the past few days, and after consulting with the medical team this morning, Mathieu made the difficult decision to withdraw from today's race. We will closely monitor his recovery to determine whether he can compete in Koksijde the day after tomorrow," stated the team.
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After Koksijde ( January 3), Van der Poel would typically also start Sunday in the Dendermonde World Cup cyclo-cross. However, the Dutch rider did not include the Dutch national championship and Benidorm in his schedule in favor of a training camp, so we would not see him in action for two weekends.
So, MVDP's crash happened in Loenhout on Friday. He did start (and win) two days later in Besançon, France, where a cyclo-cross race was scheduled. It's possible that Van der Poel was already struggling with a rib problem there, causing him to skip Baal on New Year's Day. With that, we must wait at least two days longer for his sixth win of the season, who has secured a nice five out of five in this cyclo-cross winter.
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Unfortunately, 2025 doesn't start as we had hoped. World champion @mathieuvdpoel will not be participating in @X2OTrofee Baal today. Mathieu is experiencing significant rib pain, a lingering effect of his crash in Loenhout where he struck a pole. The discomfort has worsened over…
Van der Poel is not the only cyclo-cross rider who had to skip Baal. Michael Vanthourenhout (sick) and Lars van der Haar (knee pain) had already canceled their races. This is an unfortunate outcome for Sven Nys, as many cyclo-cross stars are absent. "It's one of the most important days of the year for me, and it is a big celebration. It's not great that Van der Poel is not here; we would have loved to have had him at the start. He is the best cyclo-cross rider in the world, but it happens to more riders in this busy period. They feel something everywhere, so I understand that, with all the important events still to come," the former cyclist told VTM. "I respect it, but it's a bummer."
Christoph Roodhooft also briefly appeared in front of the camera, explaining what happened to Van der Poel. "He had a flat tire in Loenhout and slid a bit. He fell with his chest on a pole. In Besançon, there was relatively little to worry about, but the day after, he was still bothered by it. We were not worried, but the discomfort was annoying; as a precaution, we decided not to compete today. We'll see what it means for the next races, but let us first see how it is tomorrow morning."
