Van der Poel finished second at the Les Gets MTB World Cup on Sunday. He has not competed in an Olympic XC race in the last 51 weeks, so this seems like a strong return. He rode the race as preparation for the MTB World Championships next weekend in Val di Sole. However, he highlighted that he will start from the fifth row at Worlds. He also mentioned having a painful crash like moment in the short track race on Friday.
Can a rider with his road pedigree realistically contend for MTB Worlds gold against specialists while starting from such a poor grid position?
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