World champion Mathieu van der Poel will not defend his cyclo-cross world title later this month, Alpecin-Fenix have announced. Van der Poel's winter has been blighted by injury, and following the latest flare up of his back injury, the 26-year-old has decided to prioritise recovery, hopefully in time for the spring Classics.
The news is not particularly unexpected. Yesterday, Van der Poel's father, Adrie, told Sporza that his son would not be competing this week and hinted that the remainder of his cyclo-cross season was in jeopardy.
This morning, in a team press release, Mathieu confirmed the news, "I can't say much about it, it is what it is. Because of that back pain I haven’t been able to reach my desired level since the Tour. I just want that to be in the past.
"The only remedy turns out to be a longer rest period. It would therefore be foolish to interrupt this period again and still try to make it to the World Championships. We all agree on that. Even though it is very bitter – I have participated in the World CX Championships 10 consecutive times – not being able to defend my title in the States is a real downer.
"I'm not worried about the future of my career, but of course it frustrates me now not knowing how long this rest period will last. We’ll only set a date and goals if we can do so in a substantiated manner. Until then, I'll do what I can."