The absence of Mathieu van der Pol and Wout van Aert made this weekend's Cyclocross World Championships a great opportunity for many riders, but Quinten Hermans will have to sit it out.

The Belgian, who finished seventh in Sunday's Hoogerheide World Cup, tested positive for COVID-19 to clear the way to the US for the World Championships. While his teammates traveled to Fayetteville via Chicago on Monday, Hellmans was left on his own, his World Championship hopes ended.

With recent podium finishes at the Gullegem and Belgian Championships, Hellmans was in good form. In addition, earlier in the season he had won the World Cup round in Fayetteville, where the world title will be contested on Sunday.

Therefore, in a discouraging statement, Hellmans described himself as "helpless."

"I performed well in Hogelheide, I was healthy and ready to compete for a medal in Fayetteville. I worked incredibly hard over the past weeks and months to line up in the best possible situation.

"I have avoided risk as much as possible, testing every day and not participating in the Intermarché-Wanty-Gaubert-Matérieux training camp in January. But on Sunday evening, I was informed that I had tested positive for a PCR test.

"I feel very helpless in this situation and I need time to get over this disappointment."

Hermans' absence weakens the Belgian block, but leaves a number of candidates for the most open World Championships in years, including Eli Iserbitt, Toon Arts, Laurens Sweek, and Michael Van Tulenhout.

They will face bookmaker favorite Tom Pidcock (GBR) and European champion Lars van der Haar (NL).

Belgian Cycling called up Toon VandeBosch to replace Hermans on Sunday evening, and the 22-year-old VandeBosch was at the Brussels airport in time for his morning flight to the United States. VandeBosch finished ninth in Hogelheide over the weekend and is currently ranked 13th in the world.

Belgian junior Zaidi Van Sinay will also miss the World Championships in Fayetteville after testing positive for COVID-19. The junior national champion will not be substituting for the Belgian team.

For Hellmans, this is not the end of the season. Several races remain in Belgium after the World Championships, and the 26-year-old Hermans also has a road season ahead of him. However, he must fully recover from COVID-19 and undergo a series of medical checks before he can begin training in earnest.

He made his full road debut at the World Tour level last year in Intermarque Wantigovert and rode the Ardennes Classics and Giro d'Italia, where he was touted as a promising puncher.

"We believed in Quinten Hellmans' chances in the battle for the rainbow jersey next weekend.

"Despite the great disappointment of the brutal end to his cyclocross season, we are confident that many great moments await Quinten in 2022.