Mathieu van der Poel had to admit defeat to Tadej Pogacar in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, finishing third. But did the world champion receive unauthorized assistance from Bahrain Victorious?
Sep Vanmarcke certainly thinks so. A massive crash split the peloton into many pieces during La Doyenne, and favorites Pidcock and Van der Poel quickly found themselves more than a minute behind.
On the Stockeu, Pidcock and Vansevenant decided to close the gap to the front, and MVDP joined forces with the Bahrain Victorious team to do the same.
However, Vanmarcke did not appreciate the world champion’s return. “Actually, that group got 20 seconds for free,” he said on Sporza, according to Wielernieuws.
“It’s really bitter for Mauri’s group. They had to work hard to come back, but that car brought the other group very close. That just needs to be punished.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think Van der Poel’s group would come back, and suddenly you see that they are back. I didn’t know what had happened, but we definitely didn’t have that advantage,” Vansevenant himself commented.
