Newly crowned road race world champion Mathieu van der Poel has ultimately opted against making an early debut in the mountain bike races at the UCI Super World Championships in Scotland.
The Dutch rider had been widely expected to test his mountain bike form in the short track race on August 10 before the cross-country event on August 12 but changed his mind on Wednesday due to the injuries he sustained in his late crash during Sunday's road race.
Van der Poel was spotted training along the circuit at Glentress Forest on Tuesday, just two days after he captured a stunning solo victory in the elite men's road race ahead of Wout van Aert of Belgian and Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia. He was initially entered for the short track race; however, the Netherlands' cycling federation has now confirmed he will only race in the cross-country event on Saturday.
“I'm still suffering a bit from the crash. Because of the adrenaline, I didn't feel it during the race, but after the finish, I immediately noticed that I had hurt myself," Van der Poel told AD on Wednesday.
Van der Poel has a chance to become the first male rider to secure world titles in cyclo-cross, road and cross-country mountain biking in the same season after taking out the UCI Cyclocross Worlds in February. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot made history in the 2014-2015 season at the age of 23, when she became the first cyclist to simultaneously hold world titles in the three disciplines.
Van der Poel seemed to play down his chances of a second world title this week, with his first goal to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. After opting not to ride any of this spring's mountain bike World Cup events, Van der Poel has not qualified for a front-row start position for Saturday's cross-country mountain bike race.
"A place in the top 10 or top 15 is the goal'," he told AD.
Tom Pidcock and three-time Road World Champion Peter Sagan, are expected to compete in the short track event, having been added to the official start list.
A qualification round for the short track event was cancelled on Tuesday, August 8, because there were not enough participants to host the qualifications. The short track final will be held on Thursday at 5:45 pm local time for a 'sprint race' of approximately 20 minutes for the world title.
The short track event is normally used to determine the order of the riders in the front rows during the World Cup season; however, the event is held separately at this combined Cycling World Championships.
The short track race will be held on a shortened course of 900 metres with 33 vertical meters on each lap.
Pidcock, who did not compete at the elite men's road race last Sunday, will line up for Great Britain at the short track and cross-country events.
He is the reigning Olympic Champion in the cross-country mountain bike event, having won the gold medal in the event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he beat Mathias Flueckiger (Switzerland) and David Valero Serrano (Spain).
