World Champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) pulled out of the Renewi Tour earlier than Sunday’s ultimate stage, involved a few knee ache and the impression it might have on the remainder of his 2024 season.
Van der Poel hit his knee on his handlebars throughout the time trial on stage 2. He was in a position to proceed the race till Friday however the ache didn’t subside.
“It was determined to not take any dangers in consideration of the remainder of his program,” Alpecin-Deceuninck stated.
“The final stage would have been further traumatic for the knee,” Van der Poel stated.
“So I can’t and gained’t take any threat of the damage getting worse. Very unlucky, as a result of I used to be actually trying ahead to the final stage on the Muur of Geraardsbergen.”
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) gained the ultimate stage of the Renewi Tour from a discipline that was cut up by means of the climbs of the ultimate circuits. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) gained the general classification.
Van der Poel is subsequent anticipated to pin on a quantity on the European Championships on September 15 in Belgium.
He is then scheduled to journey the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg from September 18 to 22 after which the World Championships street race on September 29, the place he can be lining up in Zurich, Switzerland to defend his rainbow jersey.
The Zurich course gives a chance for the climbers, given it has over 4000m of elevation achieve throughout the 274km race, making it tough for van der Poel to win for a second yr.
Van der Poel had ample early season success with wins on the E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. However, the Olympic Games did not end up to plan when Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) responded to Van der Poel’s strikes with a counter-attack and soloed to win gold because the Dutch rider completed twelfth.
The European Championships in Belgium might be an ideal alternative to take his fiftieth UCI street win.