Confirmed: Mathieu van der Poel out of Benidorm World Cup

Mathieu van der Poel has made his decision: he will not participate in the World Cup in Benidorm this Sunday. National coach Gerben de Knegt had included him in the Dutch selection as a precaution, but MVDP had been uncertain about his participation for some time. It is now clear that he definitely will not be there.

When Van der Poel announced his cyclocross schedule at the end of November, there was already a question mark next to the race in Benidorm. That question mark was still there earlier this week. Therefore, the KNWU decided to register the world champion to keep their options open, since official registration closed on Monday. However, Van der Poel will not start on Sunday, his team Alpecin-Premier Tech has now confirmed.

Leader in World Cup
Van der Poel is currently the leader in the World Cup. In the standings, he has a ten-point lead over Thibau Nys and thirteen points over Michael Vanthourenhout. It is therefore possible that the Dutchman will drop in the rankings after Sunday, but he will participate again next week in the final World Cups of the season, in Maasmechelen (January 24) and Hoogerheide (January 25). On February 1, Van der Poel’s major goal of the cyclocross season follows: the World Championships in Hulst.