Mathieu Van Der Pol's father suggested that his son struggled in the snow at Saturday's Val di Sole cyclocross race because he feared crashing and was trying to avoid injury ahead of the racing holiday season.

Mathieu Van Der Pol came to the Val di Sole race from a training camp in Alpecin de Seuninck, Spain, to compete in the latest round of the World Cup.

However, he hesitated on the snow and ice and struggled right from the start of the race, losing ground with each lap and finishing in 8th place with a time of 3:14. Michael Vanturentut used his bike skills to complete the race alone and win. Eli Iserbitt, on the other hand, crashed hard, as did Fem Van Empel in the women's race.

Van der Pol was not satisfied at the finish line and refused to give a post-race speech, forcing his father Adly, a former pro and cyclocross world champion, to explain to the media why he was so far off the pace.

"I think Mathieu was scared," Adrie van der Pol suggested to Het Nieuwsblad (open in new tab), describing his son's performance with the Dutch synonym "running with a giant egg in his pants."

"It was simple, he was not confident on the snow and ice. It showed at the start and during the race. Michael Vanthourenhout ran with confidence, but Mathieu did not. It was the same in every corner."

Van der Pol insisted that his son is getting better after road training in Spain, dismissing concerns about the holidays and a busy racing schedule for the 2023 season. Last year, Van der Pol barely raced due to a back injury, which affected his early-season road racing.

"His form is certainly not the problem. If you look at his heart rate in the last five laps, I don't think it was over 125. He wasn't in the game. Sometimes I saw people hit the post and fall down. That makes you think, doesn't it?" Adrie van der Pol argued.

"You have to remember that he had been racing [cyclocross] properly for two years. This result is really the last thing we need to worry about. Next week we race on a different course."

Alpecin Deceuninck's team management apparently urged Van der Pol not to take risks on snow and ice, knowing that crashes like Van der Pol's and Iserbitt's could jeopardize his cyclocross and road racing season He was.

"I told him beforehand not to take too many risks," Het Nieuwsblad quoted team management as saying.

"The rest of the cyclocross season, especially the spring, is too important to risk anything. Look what happened to Yzerbito. He took risks everywhere and paid the price."

"He took risks everywhere and paid the price.

Van der Pol is scheduled to return to racing on Friday at the Zilvermeer Cross. He will then race during the December 26, 27, and 28 holiday weekend.

In the New Year, van der Pol will compete in the World Cup in Sonnhofen before heading to Herentals (January 3), Koksijde (January 5), and Spain for the Alpecin de Seuninck training camp.

The World Championships in Hogelheide in early February remain a major goal, even though the road racing season begins immediately thereafter.