Controversy with the Belgian cyclists from Alpecin - did they help Van der Poel in the Gravel World Championship?

The waters are turbulent in the Belgian cycling team that took part in the 2024 Gravel World Championship held in Flanders. A race in which they had overwhelming majority, with 7 out of the top 10 being Belgians, and yet they were not able to work as a team, once again, to prevent the victory of Mathieu van der Poel.

Jasper Stuyven criticizes the lack of commitment of several teammates in the 2024 Gravel World Championship

Everything related to cycling in Belgium, especially when it comes to the national team, is almost a matter of state. Similar to what we see in countries like Spain with football as the main sport. And of course, after the debacle in the Gravel World Championship held in their country, where they were unable to beat Mathieu van der Poel, a Dutchman to make matters worse, the criticisms have started to fly.

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The most outspoken comments regarding the role of the Belgian team in the 2024 Gravel World Championship come from Jasper Stuyven, who did not hesitate to accuse some of his teammates of racing more for their commercial team than for the Belgian national team. We are talking, of course, about Gianni Vermeersch and Quinten Hermans, who were two of the 4 Belgians in the group of 7 competing for the medals. In fact, the Lidl-Trek rider even stated clearly that they even helped Van der Poel.

Based on the broadcast of the race, Jasper Stuyven's comments seem a bit excessive, especially when it was seen that Gianni Vermeersch launched a strong attack or when Quinten Hermans was the one who managed to secure the podium with his bronze medal. Obviously, from the television perspective, many details that are only experienced when one is pedaling at full throttle within a group and perceives who is not giving their all in relays or is avoiding them altogether are not appreciated.

In any case, it was not nearly as evident as the situation we witnessed in the road World Championship where Pavel Sivakov managed to resist fairly well the final attack of Tadej Pogacar, who then eased off to let him cross the finish line after the climb where the offensive took place, and the Russian-French rider did not hesitate to take strong turns at the front even knowing that it would cost him dearly with everything that was left until the finish line.