Mathieu van der Poel might not be racing in Nové Město after all

On Tuesday evening, it was announced on social media that Van der Poel would make an appearance at the upcoming second round of the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series, taking place in Nové Město, Czechia.

Alongside the announcement post on the Whoop UCI World Series Instagram page was a follow-up post comparing Van der Poel and Pidcock's race stats in XC. However, since then, reports have emerged suggesting that Van der Poel may not be racing this weekend after all.

Initially reported by In de Leiderstrui , it appears that Van der Poel's entry to the race was only provisional. However, his Alpecin-Deceuninck team have since confirmed that the Dutchman will not be taking to the start line this weekend.

Despite this, his name remains on the entry list for the Nové Město round. A spokesperson for WBD said, “Confirming whether he will race or not is a team decision,” adding, “From our side, we will share the official start lists as soon as all starters are confirmed.”

As of yet, there has been no comment from Van der Poel himself, while the social posts from the Whoop UCI World Series remain live. At this point, only time will tell whether Van der Poel will, in fact, be absent from the start line after all.