The elite men's field for the X2O Trophy-GP Sven Nys got underway without superstar rider Mathieu van der Poel on New Year's Day.
Alpecin-Deceuninck announced that the world champion was suffering from a rib injury.
"Unfortunately, 2025 doesn't start as we had hoped. World champion 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."
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Van der Poel clipped a wooden post while executing a turn in the closing laps while soloing to the victory in the Exact Cross on December 27.
"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," the team wrote.
"We will closely monitor his recovery to determine whether he can compete in Koksijde the day after tomorrow."
The race was supposed to be the sixth of 11 races that Van der Poel planned to compete in this season.
Team manager Christophe Roodhooft said the absence was precautionary.
"In Loenhout, Mathieu got a flat tire at one point, after which he slid away with his front wheel," Roodhooft told the Belgian media. "As a result, he ended up with his chest on a pole. He hit his rib there. We saw that ourselves, but Mathieu didn't necessarily say anything about it afterwards. He also suffered relatively little from it in Besançon."
In the World Cup in Besançon, France, Van der Poel won by 20 seconds over Toon Aerts, but suffered from pain in his rib afterward.
"Then he really had trouble," Roodhooft said. "The second day is always the most difficult with these kinds of incidents. And yesterday, Tuesday, the pain was really annoying. It had not gone away yet. We have therefore decided that he will not appear at the start in Baal.
"There will be no medical check-ups. He just hurt himself. It's mainly a precaution that he's not in Baal. It's not pleasant for him, of course, but there's nothing we can do about it."
Mathieu Van der Poel's remaining races
- 03/01/25 – X2O Trofee Koksijde
- 05/01/25 – World Cup Dendermonde
- 25/01/25 – World Cup Maasmechelen
- 26/01/25 – World Cup Hoogerheide
- 02/02/25 – World Championships Lièvin
