Road World Championships 2021 - Mathieu van der Poel provisionally included in Dutch team for road race in Flanders

ByHarry Latham Coyle

Published 14/09/2021 at 20:02 GMT

A final decision will be made on van der Poel's participation after the weekned. The Dutchman returned to racing with victory in the Antwerp Port Classic last Sunday, winning his first race since crashing in the mountain bike race at Tokyo 2020. Should he be fit to start in Antwerp, van der Poel could duel with long-time rival Wout van Aert in the Belgian's native Flanders.

Mathieu van der Poel has been provisionally included in the Dutch team for the men's road race at the 2021 UCI Road World Championships.

The Dutch rider made his return from a back injury at Sunday's Antwerp Port Epic, taking victory in the one-day race.

The World Championships road race begins in Antwerp on Sunday 25 September, with van der Poel's participation to be confirmed after this coming weekend.

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Van der Poel crashed heavily during his pursuit of mountain bike gold at Tokyo 2020 and had been a major doubt both for the World Championships in Flanders and October's Paris-Roubaix.

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However on Monday the Dutchman indicated that his chances of participating were more than 50%, and his inclusion in the provisional Netherlands squad is the clearest indication yet that he will start in Flanders.

That could set up a tantalising duel between the 2020 Tour of Flanders winner and long-time rival and favourite for home gold Wout Van Aert.

The Belgian took his own victory on Sunday with a fourth stage win of the 2021 Tour of Britain - sealing overall victory in the process and marking the first time that the rivals on and off the road have taken wins on the same day.

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Also in the Dutch team after recovering from injury is Dylan van Baarle, winner of this year's Dwars door Vlaanderen.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider missed the European Championships but returns to aid a strong squad.

Also included is the experienced Bauke Mollema.

Mike Teunissen, Sebastian Langeveld, Oscar Riesebeek, Danny van Poppel and Pascal Eenkhoorn complete the Dutch line-up.

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