Mathieu van der Poel will miss world championships after Tokyo fall

One month out from his infamous OTB in Tokyo, Mathieu van der Poel is still dealing with the consequences. The Dutch phenom will now miss 2021 mountain bike world championships this week in Val di Sole, Italy.

An update from van der Poel’s Alpecin-Fenix team stated that continued back problems following the crash are improving, but not fast enough. Racing the XCC and XCO events in Val di Sole is no longer a realistic goal.

The Dutch rider pulled out of a team camp earlier in the week as a result of the back pain.

With mountain bike worlds off the table, the multi-disciplinary rider is switching his focus to events on pavement and pavé later in the season. Van der Poel will aim to defend his title at the Benelux Tour and take on the iconic Paris-Roubaix road race.

An update about @mathieuvdpoel ?#valdisole2021 pic.twitter.com/AZ9yDdU8z1

— Alpecin-Fenix Cycling Team (@AlpecinFenix) August 22, 2021

Olympic champion absent

Van der Poel isn’t the only star that will be absent in Val di Sole this week. Men’s Olympic champion Tom Pidcock is also skipping world championships. Instead, the British phenom is in Spain racing his first Grand Tour, Vuelta a España, in support of his Ineos Grenadiers teammates.

That sets up a generational Swiss showdown in the men’s race in Val di Sole. Mathias Flueckiger is on the rise, winning the last four World Cup XCO/XCC events before Tokyo, while Nino Schurter is struggling to find the podium’s top step this year.