No Van der Poel but Pidcock and Sagan to race Thursday's short track MTB Worlds

Mathieu Van Der Poel of The Netherlands training at Glentress Forest for the UCI World Championships
Mathieu Van Der Poel of The Netherlands training at Glentress Forest for the UCI World Championships (Image credit: Getty Images)

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. 

Kirsten Frattini
Deputy Editor

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.