Mathieu van der Poel’s presence at this year’s Tour de France is in doubt, after it was confirmed that the Dutch star suffered a minor fracture and ligament damage to his wrist, following two crashes on his return to mountain biking on Sunday.

The three-time Paris-Roubaix winner endured a disastrous off-road comeback at this weekend’s UCI XCO World Cup event in Nové Město na Moravě, his first mountain bike race in two years, crashing twice in the opening few minutes before eventually abandoning on the third lap.

Van der Poel’s initial crash came as he attempted to make his way through the group, leaning into David Valero before crashing into the barriers, bringing the Spaniard – who accused the Dutchman of lacking respect towards his rivals in a pointed social media post after the race – down in the process.

Minutes later, the 30-year-old multidisciplinary star hit the deck again, this time misjudging a section of pump track and flying over the handlebars.

After quitting the race early, Van der Poel flew back from Czechia to Belgium, where he was assessed in Herentals hospital.

And in an update published on Monday afternoon, his Alpecin-Deceuninck team confirmed that the former world road race champion has been diagnosed with “a minor avulsion fracture of the scaphoid bone, indicative of ligament damage to his wrist”.

The squad admitted that the damage to Van der Poel’s wrist “requires a cautious and carefully monitored recovery process”, ruling him out of the start of an upcoming training camp in the French Alps and potentially putting his Tour de France participation in jeopardy.

It was announced at the weekend that Van der Poel was scheduled to race the Critérium du Dauphiné, the traditional tune-up race for the Tour which starts on 8 June, for the first time in his career, but those plans could soon be ripped up depending on how well the 30-year-old recovers over the coming days.

“The timeline for resuming training and competition will depend on the evolution of swelling and pain over the coming days,” the team said.

“At this stage, it is therefore premature to provide a definitive prognosis or to outline the trajectory of the coming weeks.

“Consequently, Mathieu van der Poel will not travel to La Plagne for the first days of the planned altitude training camp.

“The injury will be subject to continued and intensive medical evaluation throughout the week. Further assessments, scheduled towards the end of the week, may offer greater clarity regarding his programme and the potential for participation in the Critérium du Dauphiné.”

This year’s Tour de France is set to be Van der Poel’s fifth career ride at cycling’s biggest race. While he hit the ground running in 2021 with a stunning stage win on Mûr-de-Bretagne, giving him six days in the yellow jersey, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has found the going tougher in recent editions, failing to win a stage and settling into a lead-out role for teammate Jasper Philipsen.

Nevertheless, the question mark currently hanging over his participation at the Tour will come as a blow to Van der Poel after another staggeringly successful – if occasionally turbulent – start to the season.

After securing a record-equalling seventh elite world cyclocross title, in the wake of a 100 per cent winter season on the ‘cross bike, the 30-year-old returned to winning ways on the road immediately at Le Samyn.

He then added to his bulging monuments collection with a second Milan-Sanremo triumph and a third consecutive solo victory at Paris-Roubaix, while also winning the E3 Saxo Classic and placing third at the Tour of Flanders behind a rampant Tadej Pogačar.

However, Van der Poel’s ongoing dominance – Pogačar cameos notwithstanding – at the spring classics once again provoked a few unsavoury moments involving angry roadside spectators, one of whom spat at the Dutch star during his solo ride to victory at E3, resulting in a £300 fine for the beer-swilling ‘fan’.

And at Paris-Roubaix, Van der Poel was hit in the face by a Visma-Lease a Bike branded bottle as he thundered over the cobbles of the Hell of the North, the spectator in question later apologising for his “impulsive” actions and admitting he had “too much to drink”.

Van der Poel’s potentially Tour-threatening crash at the UCI mountain bike World Cup in the Czech Republic also wasn’t without its controversy, as Olympic medallist David Valero accused the multidisciplinary star of lacking respect for his off-road rivals, after causing the initial crash into the barriers.

“I’m disappointed with the race I had today, especially with some riders who don’t respect the rest of their colleagues for being who they are,” the Spaniard wrote on Instagram.

“I appreciate you coming for a run and giving all the visibility to the UCI MTB World Cup series, which is very important. But respect!!!”