World Champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) pulled out of the Renewi Tour before Sunday's final stage, concerned about a knee pain and the impact it could have on the rest of his 2024 season.
Van der Poel hit his knee on his handlebars during the time trial on stage 2. He was able to continue the race until Friday but the pain did not subside.
"It was decided not to take any risks in consideration of the rest of his program," Alpecin-Deceuninck said.
“The last stage would have been extra stressful for the knee,” Van der Poel said.
“So I can’t and won’t take any risk of the injury getting worse. Very unfortunate, because I was really looking forward to the last stage on the Muur of Geraardsbergen.”
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) won the final stage of the Renewi Tour from a field that was split through the climbs of the final circuits. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) won the overall classification.
Van der Poel is next expected to pin on a number at the European Championships on September 15 in Belgium.
He is then scheduled to ride the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg from September 18 to 22 and then the World Championships road race on September 29, where he will be lining up in Zurich, Switzerland to defend his rainbow jersey.
The Zurich course provides an opportunity for the climbers, given it has over 4000m of elevation gain during the 274km race, making it difficult for van der Poel to win for a second year.
Van der Poel had ample early season success with wins at the E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. However, the Olympic Games didn't turn out to plan when Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) responded to Van der Poel's moves with a counter-attack and soloed to win gold as the Dutch rider finished 12th.
The European Championships in Belgium could be a perfect opportunity to take his 50th UCI road win.
