Not even a broken wrist stops Mathieu van der Poel. The Alpecin-Deceuninck champion is already back on the bike just two days after the double crash that forced him to retire in the XCO World Cup in Nové Mesto.

The accident, which occurred during his first return to mountain bike racing since 2023, left him with a small avulsion fracture of the scaphoid and subsequent ligament damage in his wrist. Despite this, VDP has wasted no time in getting back into training, as documented in a video posted to his Instagram profile showing him engaged in a Zwift session wearing a wrist brace.

The injury will force the Dutch champion to miss the first part of the team's planned high altitude training camp in the Alps in preparation for the Tour de France. His participation in next month's Critérium du Dauphiné remains to be evaluated.

The team has communicated

that 'the injury will be the subject of continuous and intensive medical evaluations during the week' and that 'further tests planned towards the end of the week will be able to shed more light on his programme and possible participation in the Dauphiné'.