Olympics-Cycling-Van der Poel escapes serious injury after 'ramp' error

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Mountain Bike - Men's Cross Country - Final - Izu MTB Course - Shizuoka, Japan - July 26, 2021. Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands crashes during the cross country final REUTERS/Jonne Roriz

IZU, Japan (Reuters) - Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel avoided serious injury after his dramatic crash on the first lap of the mountain bike event on Monday, his team have confirmed.

The 26-year-old, who wore the yellow jersey for six days at the Tour de France before heading to Japan, flew over his handlebars after going over a boulder on the first lap.