Ipse dixit. Marco Aurelio Fontana had been more than prophetic on Mathieu Van der Poel's return to mountain biking. Of course, he hadn't foreseen that the Dutch phenomenon would break his scaphoid and also suffer a ligament injury in his wrist, but certainly he had sensed that VdP would encounter technical difficulties.
Let's take a look at the order of events and how they unfolded. And also how Van der Poel was welcomed by the mountain biking community (UCI MTB photo above).
The bitter return of VdP
Van der Poel returns to MTB racing almost two years after his last appearance, at the 2023 Glasgow World Championships. At the beginning of the season he did not deny that His goal was to win the only world title he is missing: the one in mountain biking, precisely.
He was therefore supposed to return first in a cross country, the Olympic specialty, in Germany in mid-May, then everything was postponed to last Sunday, directly in the top competition: the World Cup.
Anyone who follows mountain biking knows that World Cup races are on a whole different level than all the others. The courses, besides being tough, are also very technical. And mountain biking technique, both in terms of the bike and the riding itself, is constantly evolving. So, after a tumultuous start, the athlete of the Alpecin-Deceuninck falls. In the next lap he falls again and from there comes the withdrawal, in pain.
Fontana's warning
Fontana, when he commented on Mathieu's return to us, said it would be crucial for him to use the mountain bike. Use it over and over again. Train on it, spend hours on it, because he'd find people who would ride over him and alongside him. And that's exactly what happened.
Van der Poel, however, declared before the start that he had only used the mountain bike twice… a little bit.
Perhaps, and we emphasize perhaps, VdP felt a bit of pressure. Many were waiting for him, and more than a few mocked him on social media. Something he's certainly not used to..
The fact is, the first crash was almost a copy and paste of the one in Glasgow. It was an accident that also involved David Valero, a prominent biker: the Spaniard, in fact, reached the Olympic podium in Tokyo. The second fall, if we want, was even more awkward in how it came about., spectacular in how it happened. Mathieu fell on a jump. Trying to catch up, he was moving up the group, and his momentum led him to make a second mistake. At that point, he persisted a bit more and at the beginning of the third lap, he called it quits.
Fracture and respect
He said enough also because the pain in my hand was evidently making itself felt. A team press release later confirmed that Van der Poel suffered “a mild avulsion fracture of the scaphoid, indicative of a ligament injury to the wrist.”
His appearance, however criticized or praised, wasn't frowned upon by his MTB rivals, but it wasn't celebrated either. Valero himself wrote on his social media: "I appreciate their participation and their visibility in the MTB World Cup; it's very important. But so is respect!".
He didn't mention Van der Poel, but the reference is clear.
And now?
It's clear that the Dutchman's plans are changing. They're certainly changing in the short term.
If the Tour de France he doesn't seem to be at risk (after all he doesn't have to be ranked), his presence at the Dauphiné, scheduled for June 8th to 15th. Not only that, Mathieu won't be present at the team's mountain training camp, scheduled for La Plagne. He won't be around for the first week, at least.
Moreover, According to our information, in La Plagne he should have also refined something with the MTB in view of the world championship challenge in Crans Montana in September and the post-Tour de France mountain biking events.
Just yesterday, Van der Poel posted a video showing him already pedaling. He's on rollers and wearing a braceAccording to Joris Duerinckx, the surgeon who also operated on Pogacar two years ago after his fall at the Liege, the Tour should not be at risk for VdP. However, Six weeks are needed for complete recovery from the fracture and for this reason he sees his participation in the Dauphiné as practically impossible (if not counterproductive).
The question everyone is asking now is: has Mathieu Van der Poel realized it's an impossible challenge (and dangerous for him in terms of road racing) and will he throw in the towel? Or will he persist?
From his words, it doesn't seem like he wants to end it: "I had a blast getting back on my mountain bike last week. It didn't go exactly as planned, but life would be boring if everything went perfectly, right? I can't wait to get back on the trails soon!».
