Dutch national coach De Knegt: "It’s sad to see Mathieu van der Poel suddenly being dismissed as some kind of loser"

De Knegt was there when Van der Poel crashed early in the race at the Tokyo Olympics and the World Championships in Glasgow and had to withdraw. Something similar happened in Nove Mesto on Sunday, but the Dutch national coach sees no similarities. "This is a series of unfortunate incidents that have happened to him, but van der Poel is also a multiple World Cup winner on the mountain bike," De Knegt said in an interview with De Telegraaf.

"Mathieu has more than proven that he has mastered this discipline. That's why it's sad that he's suddenly being dismissed as a bit of a loser. He also won a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships, but everyone seems to have forgotten his MTB achievements very quickly," said the coach.

At the beginning of this year, Van der Poel set his sights on the World Championships in mountain biking in Switzerland, but after the events in Nove Mesto, it remains to be seen whether that will change. "The level is only going to get higher here," says De Knegt about mountain biking. "It's impossible just to jump in and do it on the side, not even for him."

"He will have to make choices in the coming years. See what he wants and whether he wants to continue mountain biking, but then Mathieu will have to compete in several races. This race in Nové Mesto was for him to see where he stands, but it was an unfortunate outcome, which makes us wonder whether this has a future for him. I will have that conversation with him, but I will let him take some time off to recover first," says the Dutch national coach.