Following on from Dwars door Vlaanderen yesterday, team manager of Etixx-Quick Step Patrick Lefevere expressed his dissatisfaction with the advantage that he felt Greg Van Avermaet received from some of the race motorbikes.
Lefevere felt that the positioning of a number of motorbikes in front of Van Avermaet enabled the BMC rider to draft from them.
In particular, he felt that the motorbike from the VRT TV channel had provided a big advantage.
“The VRT may well be a fan of Van Avermaet,” said Lefevere. “I have nothing against Greg, he’s a world class cyclist. He didn’t ask for it.. But cameras should be behind an attacking rider, not in front of.”
“Niki Terpstra drove the chase f**king hard. He pushed it at say 450 watts, yet Van Avermaet increased his lead from 12 to 18 seconds. It is up to the commissaire to intervene. Fortunately Van Avermaet was brought back, otherwise I would have been even more pissed. ”
I agree! I was watching the live feed and at times all you could see was his face!