Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel’s UAE Tour was an eventful, yet short-lived, one. Photo: LaPresse – Gian Mattia D’Alberto
Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel’s UAE Tour was an eventful, yet short-lived, one.
He sprinted to victory in Sunday’s stage one to take the overall leader’s red jersey, but before he could defend it in Monday’s individual time-trial, his Alpecin-Fenix team withdrew from the race after a staff member tested positive for Covid-19.
The 28-year-old has returned to the Netherlands having passed the required testing and will now prepare for Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium.
In order to take to the start line he will have to return another negative test 24 hours before the start of the race.
This year’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad over 199.8km from Ghent to Ninove will be the 76th edition of the race.
Despite the ongoing UAE Tour, the one-day race has attracted a quality field, headlined by French world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step).
Belgian Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) is the defending champion.
An update on our withdrawal from the #UAETour pic.twitter.com/zNL7tdkUXv
— Alpecin-Fenix Cycling Team (@AlpecinFenix) February 22, 2021
