Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) took the win in the Tour de l’Eurométropole (UCI 1.1) today beating Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling) and Tom Boonen (Etixx-Quick Step) into second and third at the finish in Tournai.
However, the victory was only confirmed after the race jury reviewed a video of the sprint after a protest from Naesen. The Belgian rider had felt that Groenewegen had deviated from his line in the sprint, preventing him from coming past.
Naesen nearly crashed in the closing metres, as he had to bunnyhop a block near the finish line and was clearly angry after the finish.
The speed was high from the start of the race with 51 kilometres being covered in the first hour. A group of eighteen riders went on the attack which included Naesen, Boonen, Groenewegen in addition to Julien Vermote, Nikolas Maes, Yves Lampaert and Fernando Gaviria of Etixx-Quick Step, Lotto-Soudal riders Jelle Wallays, Jürgen Roelandts and Jens Debusschere and Cofidis riders Florian Senechal and Kenneth Van Bilsen.
This group had a lead of two minutes as they started six 14.7-kilometres finishing laps and with two laps remaining, the group split with nine riders up front.
With thirteen kilometres left, Naesen, Lampaert and Maarten Wynants (LottoNL-Jumbo) broke clear and with a healthy lead inside the final kilometre, it looked like one of the three would take the win. However, the three riders started looking at each other and nearly came to a standstill, allowing the chasers to get back on.
In the sprint to the line, Groenewegen veered towards the barriers on the left-hand side of the road as Naesen tried to squeeze through the gap.
Naesen did well to stay upright and was clearly unhappy with Groenewegen after the finish, banging his wheel off the LottoNL-Jumbo rider’s back wheel in frustration.
“What a ridiculous decision of the UCI jury,” Naesen said on TV afterwards. “Everyone has seen the sprint? The pictures speak for themselves. Groenewegen drove me into the barriers, that’s super clear? I think it’s just ridiculous that he wins.”
“The three of us were on the attack but were overtaken in the finishing straight,” he went on to say. “I went onto the wheel of Groenewegen, but he pushed me to the side and I nearly fell.”
“I felt super good. With that group I would have definitely won, but in fact I am the rightful winner of this race. This is ridiculous. Groenewegen should simply be disqualified.”
“I feel that Groenewegen drove me into the barriers. That’s just villainous. Close the door a bit, but if you feel that someone comes around you and you have a bit of class, you will hold your line.”
Naesen was also critical of the decision not to overturn the result as hE said: “Why let the jury decide this matter? Because they know nothing about it, right?”
Groenewegen had a different a view of the sprint as he said: “Because we overtook the lead group in the end, it was impossible to sprint straight ahead. I had to deviate from my line. But I do not think I did anything wrong.”
Third-placed finisher Tom Boonen also felt that Naesen had been hampered as he said: “The ensuing sprint was not right. Naesen was certainly hampered by Dylan Groenewegen.”
Here’s a short clip of the final metres
Vidéo : Le sprint controversé de #Groenewegen qui cause la colère de #Naesen à l'#eurometropoletour #lesRP pic.twitter.com/CI4xx5DDfm
— Leunis Jacques (@JacquesLeunis) October 2, 2016
Here are additional highlights including some overhead shots of the sprint:
Bekijk meer video’s van vtmnieuws op nieuws.vtm.be
should have been DQed