Mathieu Van Der Pol seems to be running out of time to compete in the Spring Classic. His father, Adly, revealed that the Alpecin Phoenix rider is still experiencing pain in his back and is "just sitting at home on the couch."

Van der Pol has been suffering from back pain since last summer and was not at his best at the Road World Championships in September. He recovered from his knee injury and back problems and began his cyclocross campaign over the vacations, but abandoned the Superprestige race in Heusden-Zolder on December 27 and was later diagnosed with a swollen disc.

He was forced to miss the World Cyclocross Championships and missed nearly a month of important pre-season road training in an attempt to salvage some of his spring campaign.

He is unlikely to compete in many of the early season races over the next six weeks, including the Belgian "opening weekend" starting with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 26; Strade Bianche, winner in 2021, won on March 5, 2019 Tour of Flanders is April 3.

Adrie van der Pol hopes her son will be back on the bike in the next few days, giving her a reason not to watch the cyclocross world championships from her couch on Sunday. Van der Pol was one of the favorites to win the rainbow jersey in the absence of Wout Van Aert.

"I don't think we'll see Mathieu. Hopefully he will be able to ride some bikes by then," Adli told VTM Nieuws at the final round of the Cyclocross World Cup in Hoogerheide on Sunday.

"He'll be fine. Once the pain is gone he will be able to ride again, but right now he is just sitting at home on the couch. There is not much he can do, he has been prescribed strict rest and he has to stick to it."

According to reports, van der Pol's injury was caused by switching between road and mountain bikes last summer as he juggled Olympic preparations and an ambitious road campaign. After finishing second in the Tour de Flanders, he competed twice in the MTB World Cup and returned to road biking for the Tour de Suisse and Tour de France.

He suffered a major crash in the men's cross-country medal race, but his back pain is not believed to have worsened. He did, however, leave the high altitude training camp early in August, delaying his return to the road due to back pain.

"The problem has been there for some time, but I am a little relieved because we have identified a cause that can be remedied with rest and treatment.

"Everyone knows that the World Championships in the U.S. is my first big goal for 2022. I want to recover fully without any time pressure first so that I can reach my full potential. So I will resume competing when I am fully ready."