Blow for Picnic PostNL: No Max Poole at the Vuelta a España

“In his build-up and preparation towards the Vuelta a España, Max Poole wasn’t reacting positively to training,” the Dutch team said on its website. “Things worsened at the recent Tour de Pologne and he left the race on medical grounds to investigate the potential cause. The results of these investigations have concluded that Max is suffering from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and he is therefore unable to train or race for the upcoming period.”

This is a major blow for Picnic PostNL, but certainly for the young rider himself. "It’s been difficult few weeks trying to work out what the situation was and I appreciate the support the team has given me during this period. I’m pretty relieved to now understand the root of the problem as it means that I can start to focus on recovery and getting my health back on track. I’m really disappointed to miss the team at the Vuelta, and wish them the best of luck there," said Poole, who has already shown great promise this year and had made the Tour of Spain a major goal.

Head coach Rudi Kemna saw it with his own eyes. “Max didn’t come away from altitude feeling as we’d hoped, and when he continued to decline during Poland we removed him from the race on medical grounds to conduct thorough investigations. Now that we know the full extent of his illness, our focus is simply on looking after him and giving him the time and support he needs to recover fully.”

Team doctor Camiel Aldershof provided further explanation. "We’ve been looking into the possible reasons for Max’s health problems over the past few weeks, and today we confirmed that he has Epstein-Barr virus with glandular fever. Sadly, this means he’ll need a longer period of rest while we work on getting him back to full health. Now we know what’s behind his symptoms, we can start moving in the right direction with his recovery."