Mathieu van der Poel gave an update on his injury Thursday, and the news isn’t great. On X, his Alpecin-Deceuninck team posted:
“Mathieu van der Poel’s rib problems persist, causing significant discomfort, particularly on heavier terrain. As a result, he will not participate in tomorrow’s X2O Trofee in Koksijde,” the statement read. “Regarding his participation at the UCI CX World Cup Dendermonde on Sunday, Mathieu and the team will make a decision on Saturday.”
This marks his second DNS in a row. On Jan. 1, van der Poel also pulled out of the X2O Trofee Baal – GP Sven Nys. A statement from Alpecin-Deceuninck explained:
“Unfortunately, 2025 doesn’t start as we had hoped. World champion Mathieu van der Poel will not be participating in 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.”
Koksijde is known for its long stretches of sand, which often produce thrilling races.
“This is really disappointing because Koksijde is one of my favourite races,” van der Poel said. “It’s where I won my first world title, for example. But it’s just too soon. I hope to be ready for Dendermonde, although I fear it will be a close call.”
Van der Poel’s season had only recently begun, but he has been dominant in his bid to defend the rainbow jersey in France. Out of five races, he won all of them.
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