Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) was bitter after his fourth place during the Gravel World Championshipsthis Sunday. After the race, he accused his compatriots, Gianni Vermeersch et Quinten Hermansto have driven for Mathieu Van der Poel (Netherlands), who won the race. 40 kilometers from the finish, the Belgians were outnumbered with 4 units facing Van der Poel, Connor Swift (Great Britain) and Matej Mohoric (Slovenia). If the coherent tactic would have been to attack each in turn while keeping a close eye on the Dutchman, no one jumped on the wheel of the huge favorite when he followed the attack of Florian Vermeersch. Behind, despite the presence of 3 Belgians, the understanding was not good, Quinten Hermans et Gianni Vermeerschteammate of Van der Poel within Alpecin-Deceuninck, passing only very few relays.
Video – Van der Poel is world champion in three disciplines
“The guys from Alpecin were there to help him”
“It’s annoying. These guys (Hermans and Vermeersch, editor’s note) didn’t pass the baton, but they do it when it suits them. It was very clear that all the guys from Alpecin were there for the help. I expected us to race on national teams.”said Jasper Stuvyen to Sporza. Gianni Vermeersch seems to think that this didn’t bother the group. “CIt’s always better when someone from Alpecin wins. It wasn’t up to us to close the gap“, he continued. But we haven’t really been a limiting factor. We always tried to take turns a little. I would have liked to have won myself.”he declared.
The top 10 of the Men’s Gravel World Championships
1 – Mathieu van der Poel (Pays-Bas) and 4h41’24”
2 – Florian Vermeersch (Belgium) at +1’03”
3 – Quinten Hermans (Belgium) at +3’47”
4 – Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) mt
5 – Gianni Vermeersch (Belgique) mt
6 – Connor Swift (Grande-Bretagne) m.t
7 – Matej Mohoric (Slovenia) mt
8 – Tim Merlier (Belgium) at 4’15”
9 – Timo Kielich (Belgium) mt
10 – Toon Aerts (Belgique) m.t
