Mathieu van der Poel set to start Heusden-Zolder World Cup

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Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) has recovered from a recent illness and will start the UCI World Cup in Heusden-Zolder on Boxing Day Tuesday, confirmed his father Adrie van der Poel in a report on Veldritkrant.be.

"We looked at it day by day," Adrie van der Poel said. "Mathieu starts in Zolder and there are no changes for the time being in the rest of his program."

Mathieu van der Poel was sick with a cold ahead of the World Cup in Namur on December 17. He struggled through the race but managed to finish third, losing over a minute to the day's winner Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) and two seconds back from runner-up Toon Aerts (Telenet Fidea Lions).

He took the week off and resumed training on Friday. He did not start the C2 race in Waaslandcross in Sint-Niklaas on Saturday, an event Van Aert won. 

After the World Cup in Heusden-Zolder, Van der Poel will be at the start of the DVV verzekeringen trofee - Azencross in Loenhout on December 28 and Cyclocross Bredene on December 29. He will then race the Telenet Superprestige Diegem on December 30, his final race in 2017.

Van der Poel will race DVV verzekeringen trofee - GP Sven Nys on January 1 in Baal.

Van der Poel is the leader of the World Cup standings. He has 455 points, Van Aert is in second with 380 points and Aerts is third with 334 points.

Heusden-Zolder marks the seventh round of the UCI Telenet World Cup series. Round eight will be held in Nommay, France, and round nine in Hoogerheide, Netherlands.