Mathieu van der Poel withdraws Nové Město

Mathieu van der Poel’s withdrawal from Nové Město is a late change to one of this weekend’s most heavily promoted UCI Mountain Bike World Series storylines. The Dutch rider had been announced by the series on May 14 as returning to cross-country mountain biking at Nové Město na Moravě, Czechia, before reports on May 19 said his team indicated he would not start after all. The switch matters because Nové Město had been billed around star power. Tom Pidcock and Puck Pieterse were separately confirmed by the UCI World Series for the May 22-24 round, and the local event site had promoted van der Poel, Pidcock and Pieterse together ahead of the weekend. ### When was van der Poel first announced for Nové Město? (ucimtbworldseries.com) May 14 was the date the UCI Mountain Bike World Series published that van der Poel would compete at the next round in Nové Město na Moravě. The series said the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider would be returning to cross-country mountain biking for the first time in almost two years and described more off-road racing as planned later in the season. (ucimtbworldseries.com) The UCI article said van der Poel, 30, last completed a mountain bike race in 2023 at the Paris 2024 test event and last raced a UCI World Cup in Nové Město in 2021. It also said his team had announced he would line up in Czechia before turning attention back to the road and the Tour de France. (ucimtbworldseries.com) ### How did the withdrawal emerge? May 19 was when Pinkbike updated its earlier report and said it had heard from van der Poel’s team that he would not take the start line after all. Pinkbike said it was unclear whether he had ever intended to race. Brujulabike also reported on May 20 that van der Poel had dropped out at the last minute, removing the expected meeting with Pidcock. (ucimtbworldseries.com) The local Nové Město organizer site still showed promotional language built around a “duel” between Pidcock and van der Poel when crawled on May 21. ### Why was the Pidcock matchup such a draw? Tom Pidcock was confirmed by the UCI World Series on May 15 for Nové Město, with the series saying he would line up in Czechia from May 22-24. (pinkbike.com) The event is one of the best-known stops on the cross-country calendar, and the presence of two road-and-off-road crossover stars had given organizers a clear promotional hook. (mtbnmnm.com) Nové Město also carries history for both riders. The UCI’s May 14 article said van der Poel won the XCC race there in 2021 and finished second in the XCO, while the May 15 Pidcock announcement said the Brit won the XCO World Cup the last time he competed there in 2024. ### What is still on the schedule this weekend? (ucimtbworldseries.com) The 2026 UCI competition hub lists Nové Město as the next WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series stop beginning May 22. The local race program shows elite short track on Saturday and elite cross-country on Sunday, while the event page says the round runs through May 24. (ucimtbworldseries.com) The streaming schedule lists the elite men’s XCO from Nové Město for May 24, and Pidcock remained part of the event’s confirmed rider lineup in UCI coverage published ahead of the round. (watch.ucimtbworldseries.com) (uci.org)