Van der Poel, confirmed return: in Santo Stefano he will be in Dendermonde

Mathieu Van der Poel confirms his return for the cyclocross World Cup stage in Dendermonde, Belgium, Sunday 26 December and will also be at the start the next day in the Superprestige of Zolder, also in Flanders. The Dutch champion crashed on his bike on 25 November violently hitting his knee on the gravel and this postponed his return to competitive competitions: he is missing from Paris-Roubaix on 3 October in which he finished third behind our Sonny Colbrelli and the Belgian Florian Vermeersch. “I’m not at the top yet – said Van der Poel – because for about ten days I couldn’t train due to the injury to my left knee. But now things are better, even if on Sunday I don’t know if I will be able to win already. I saw Van Aert racing and he seemed already in great shape, I think he is even stronger than last year … I don’t know if I will have the strength to keep up with him immediately but I hope to surprise myself ”.