“At the time, it didn’t really alert us because Mathieu won two days later in Besançon, commented Christoph Roodhooft. But then the pain increased. On Thursday, Mathieu did training in the woods to test himself but this test was not conclusive. He was in too much pain to be able to be present in Koksijde. He can train on the road for endurance without any problem, but cross country is something completely different…”
Roodhooft further explained that a decision would be made regarding Sunday’s race in Dendermonde. At the end of the afternoon, the dreaded announcement came. “There is no point in waiting any longer”explained Van der Poel in his team’s press release. “I did another test today and it is clear that Denderrmonde is coming too early. On more difficult terrain, I still feel too much pain in my ribs. I have no choice but to remain patient .”
The Dendermonde event should have been the second clash between van der Poel and his great rival Wout van Aert after the first duel at Loenhout won by the world champion. “As long as Mathieu doesn’t get sick and can continue training, it’s not a problem for the future, continue Roodhooft. The Liévin World Cup (February 2) is therefore not in danger and neither is his road season.”
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If Wout van Aert will line up in Benidorm on January 19, van der Poel has planned to participate in a long training camp in Spain with his team from next week. MvdP forfeits Sunday’s race, so we will have to wait until January 25 to see him in action again, in Maasmechelen. For what will already constitute the last duel between the superstars of the discipline since van Aert has chosen to skip the world championships.
