The coronavirus has put next Saturday's Strade Bianche in jeopardy, but even if the race were to take place, Mathieu van der Pol is still suffering from the flu and is therefore in doubt.

The world cyclo-cross champion started his road season at Volta ao Algarve in February and was scheduled to compete at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday, but he has withdrawn from the event due to illness. He has not yet resumed training, and a route reconnaissance for the Tour de Flanders scheduled for Monday has been cancelled.

He still has time to recover before Saturday's race in Tuscany, but the Alpecin Phoenix team does not want to rush his return.

"It's a normal flu. The doctor said it would take four or five days to recover, and so far it looks like it," Christoph Rudhoeft told Cycling News.

"We will see how this illness affects his condition and then make new plans. Normally he should be fine, but if he's not 100% healthy, we won't take him. It doesn't make sense for him to race at that level if he's not completely healthy."

If Van der Pol misses Strade Bianche, his one-day debut will be postponed to Milan-San Remo on March 21. However, La Classissima poses an even greater threat than Strade Bianche, as the surge in coronavirus cases in Italy has occurred mostly in the Lombardy region near Milan.

Van der Pol is scheduled to compete in the Catalunya Volta two days after Sanremo, prior to the main cobbled classic race, but may head to Nokere Coors on March 18 to make up for missing the race. In last year's race in Belgium, he was part of the final sprint battle, but crashed badly.

"We'll have to see what the race program is. Last year he started in Noceré."

"Last year he started in Noceré. Last year we started at Nokhele, and it's not a bad option."

"Mathieu is not usually an athlete who needs a lot of races to prepare, but every year is different."