Mathieu van der Poel to ride World Championships despite recent back problems

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix)
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Mathieu van der Poel has confirmed he will ride Sunday’s UCI Road World Championships road race in Flanders despite recently suffering with back problems that disrupted his training and race programme. 

Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Fenix team first revealed he was suffering from a back problem after he returned home early from a training camp in the Italian Alps in August.

Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.