Even the greatest champions have their weaknesses. And their little downside on New Year’s Eve. Mathieu van der Poel, who has dominated the discipline head and shoulders for years, withdrew from the X20 Trophy cyclo-cross event this Wednesday, January 1 .
“Unfortunately, 2025 is not starting off as we hoped. World champion Mathieu van der Poel will not participate in the X20 Trophée in Baal (Belgium) today,” explains his team Alpecin-Deceuninck in a press release published on social networks.
“Mathew suffers from severe pain in his ribs, the after-effects of his fall in Loenhout where he hit a pole. The discomfort has increased in recent days and, after consulting the medical team this morning, Mathieu made the difficult decision to withdraw from today’s race. We will closely monitor his recovery to determine if he can compete in Koksijde the day after tomorrow. »
The fall to which the press release refers occurred on Friday during a race won by the Dutchman. This did not prevent the grandson of Raymond Poulidor from winning widely on Sunday in Besançon, where he stunned the competition as is often the case in this discipline of which he is six times world champion. The record belongs to Belgian Éric De Vlaeminck, crowned seven times, and “MVDP” will have the opportunity to equal it at the beginning of February during the 2025 World Championships held in Liévin, in Pas-de-Calais.
Related News :