Tokyo 2020 - Mathieu van der Poel avoids broken bones after heavy crash in Olympic mountain bike cross-country

ByHarry Latham Coyle

Published 27/07/2021 at 00:41 GMT

The Dutch rider was not able to finish the race after crashing early on. Van der Poel blamed the removal of a ramp after a jump between his reconnaissance of the course and the race start. In van der Poel's absence, Great Britain's Tom Pidcock took a brilliant gold medal with a composed performance on Olympics debut at Tokyo 2020.

Mathieu van der Poel has escaped his crash in the men's Olympic mountain bike cross-country at Tokyo 2020 without any broken bones.

The Dutchman fell heavily early on in the race, later blaming his tumble on the removal of a ramp after he had done his reconnaissance of the course.

However Gerben de Knegt, the Dutch national coach, confirmed to Wielerflits that van der Poel had not suffered any fractures.

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“We have just discussed it extensively. Mathieu was again cheerful and relaxed. ‘On to the next,’ that’s how we’re in it now,” De Knegt said.

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“No one has died or anything. We evaluated it equally well.

The pain point is clear, we don’t have to make a long story about it. It just sucks, period.

The multi-talented van der Poel had entered the race among the favourites for gold.

Mathieu van der Poel crashed heavily early in the men's mountain bike cross-country

Image credit: Getty Images

The Dutchman left the Tour de France early to prepare for a tilt at mountain bike glory at Tokyo 2020.

Van der Poel had starred at his first Tour, taking an emotional and superb victory on Stage Two and remaining in the race leader's yellow jersey for several days.

It continued an excellent year for the Alpecin-Fenix rider, having similarly blasted away from an elite field at Strade Bianche in the spring.

Before commencing his 2021 season on the road, van der Poel secured his fourth cyclo-cross world title in Ostend, Belgium.

The 26-year-old's plans for the remainder of 2021 are not yet clear, though he has previously spoken of a desire to win Paris-Roubaix. The famous French monument will this year be held in the autumn having been postponed due to Covid-19.

In van der Poel's absence, fellow multi-discipline star Tom Pidcock took a sensational gold medal for Great Britain. The Ineos Grenadiers rider surged through the field having been buried on the start list due to Team GB's limited profile in mountain biking.

Pidcock only qualified after Romania's Vlad Dascalu finished 17th at a World Cup race in May. The 21-year-old came into the Games only recently recovered from a broken collarbone, having been hit by a car while training earlier in the summer.

He is the youngest Olympic mountain bike champion in history, surpassing 2016 women's champion, Jenny Rissveds of Sweden.

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