Talking about the incident on Twitter, Mathieu van der Poel confirmed he didn’t know the ramp had been removed for the race. Talking to journalist, Thijs Zonneveld, MVDP confirmed he didn’t know anything about the ramp.
In the Twitter exchange, Thijs says, National coach Gerben de Knegt: “Mathieu said something about the fact that he thought the board was still there.” In reply, MVDP said, “I was not aware, that plank was there during the reconnaissance. Only received that he was removed at the test event.”
Thijs then asked if anyone had told Mathieu before the race and asked how his hip was.
On his Instagram, MVDP posted a photo of the crash sharing his disappointment.
He also shared his disappointment, with a shot of the ramp on his Instagram stories.
The ramp was left in for the women’s race. You can see in his crash he pumps down as if he’s going to be pushing down a ramp. The Eurosport video shows it in detail.
It has been reported that he has suffered no breaks or fractures according to Wielerflits who spoke to Mathieu’s coach. He pulled out of the race after a few laps due to the pain. We’re wishing him a speedy recovery and hope he’s at least taking some pleasure in the hundreds of memes that have popped up following his Olympic crash.
MVDP Becomes Crash Meme
From shots of him diving, to actual paintings of his crash. The internet has taken the crash photo and run with it. There are MVDP diving photos, ones with him breakdancing, skating, surfing and more. Just one look at his tagged photos on his Instagram account will bring up so many images.
Here are a few of the best.
We look forward to seeing MVDP back on a bike in future, and as Tom Pidcock said on Mathieu’s Instagram post, “We all know you’ll be back.”
Featured image: SWPix.com
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