If the double tumble during the cross country race in Nove Mesto, valid for the Mountain Bike World Cup, seemed to have cast dark clouds over the short-term future of Mathieu van der Poel, the Dutchman quickly worked to dispel them.

This afternoon, in fact, Alpecin-Deceunick posted a video of the three-time Paris-Roubaix winner engaged in a roller session with a conspicuous hand brace to protect the limb from the small scaphoid fracture sustained on Sunday in the Czech Republic.

The news can only be received positively by the entire cycling sector and enthusiasts, given that after the update provided by the team in recent hours, there was already concern that van der Poel might miss the upcoming eagerly awaited Tour de France, a key event in the summer calendar for the '97 class.

The fact that MVDP is already back to pedaling (even if only on rollers) gives hope for the Grande Boucle, after which the native of Kapellen will return to focusing on fat wheels and, in particular, the MTB World Championships scheduled for September in Switzerland.

In this regard, the latest social post by the 2023 road world champion suggests that, as soon as conditions allow, the Dutchman will not hesitate to dive back enthusiastically into off-road.

"It was a real blast to be back on the mountain bike last week! Things didn't go as planned, but life would be boring if everything went perfectly, right? I can't wait to get back on the trails soon!" wrote van der Poel on his social channels, whose spirit and approach to MTB have clearly not been affected by Sunday's double tumble.