Mathieu van der Poel's bid for a third world title this year after winning last weekend's elite men's road race ended abruptly before the start of the first full lap of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships elite men's cross country Olympic (XCO) race in Glentress Forest.
After moving up from his fifth-row start, Van der Poel was sitting in a promising position when he slid out in the dusty right-hand turn before the start-finish straight at the end of the starting lap. He fell on the same side as in the road race.
"My front wheel slipped on a relatively easy part of the track. It's my own fault. I can't say much about it either, other than being angry with myself," the Dutch rider told NOS after the race. "It's just a shame for now that I had such a nice period on the bike ends so stupidly."
