Mathieu van der Poel suffers heavy fall as he crashes out of Tokyo Olympics mountain bike race

The Dutchman was inside the top five at the time of the crash

Mathieu van der Poel
(Image credit: Getty)

Mathieu van der Poel crashed out of the Tokyo Olympics mountain bike event after a heavy fall on a downhill section of the course.

The Dutchman had started brightly, inside the top five in the opening laps before coming over a rock ledge for a jump down to the rest of the course, his bike angled downwards, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.


Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).


I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.