Mathieu van der Poel finished third at the Cycling Worlds in the road race, behind champion Tadej Pogacar and Ben O’Connor. But one sequence is controversial and should have earned the Dutchman a disqualification. A lack of sanction which pushed a federation to denounce this situation.
While he was in a chasing group 60 km from the finish, van der Poel swerved and jumped onto the sidewalk, overtaking three riders including Remco Evenepoel. According to the rules, this should earn him a disqualification, but this did not happen.
This Tuesday, the Latvian federation, whose rider Toms Skujins finished 4th, published an open letter to the attention of the UCI. She regrets that the rules are not applied fairly, while van der Poel “endangered a spectator” with his maneuver.
“A representative of the Latvian federation wanted to discuss this situation with the UCI commissioners,” is indicated in the press release. “One of the commissioners explained that all the commissioners saw this maneuver, considered that it was not dangerous and should not be penalized. Our representative insisted that the rules apply to everyone, but the commissioner argued that this would have been bad for the sport, interpreting the rules as they see fit. »
“It seems that some are more equal than others, especially when it comes to making unpopular decisions,” continues the Latvian federation, which says it is “deeply concerned by this decision.” “If van der Poel had hit a spectator, would that have been good for our sport or not? We call on the UCI to apply its rules consistently in order to guarantee the safety and integrity of cycling, and not to leave this type of potential accident unaddressed, simply because it is a self-defense. -so-called damage to reputation. »
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