LCP

2024 UCI Gravel World Championships – how the race was won

3 comments

3 weeks 4 days ago

Paul J wrote:
Oh, and there were no team tactics on the dutch side either I think.

I mean, no /national/ team tactics. Cause they were riding to the trade team tactics. National team didn't even try arrange a meeting to discuss tactics.

3 weeks 4 days ago

Oh, and there were no team tactics on the dutch side either I think. It seems the dutch team "coach" (selector) wasn't even there. Belgian TV pre-race asked Matthieu if it was true he had not spoken to him about the race, Matthieu said quasi-denied it by saying they had exchanged a WhatsApp message.

Quintin Hermans and Gianni Vermeersch were clear they were riding for their trade-team, and Stuyvens afterwards said it was obvious in the race they were riding for their trade-team: "Het was heel duidelijk dat alle jongens van Alpecin hier waren om hem te helpen" -> "It was very obvious that all the guys from Alpecin were here to help him [Matthieu]".

3 weeks 4 days ago

Hmm, ICBW, but I don't think Gianni Vermeersch and Florian Vermeersch are brothers. The name is just a co-incidence - not a terribly uncommon surname. Certainly, they were born in completely different places - Ghent for Florian, and Roeselare for Gianni.

Also, though they were racing in national team kit, it was obvious the riders were not racing for their countries. The Belgian commentators kept saying this, that the abundance of Belgian riders didn't mean anything.

It became overtly obvious when MvdP went off with Florian Vermeersch. Mohoric, Swift and Stuyvens tried to chase (Stuyvens esp), but Gianni Vermeersch and Quintin Hermans were obviously disrupting the chase - Gianni was following the wheel of whoever attacked, but then not pulling, and interrupting the pace line. Same with Quintin.

If they were racing for Belgium: Why would Stuyvens try chase, when Florian Vermeersch was up the road? Why would Gianni V. and Hermans frustrate Stuyvens' chase? It's obvious what was happening: Gianni Vermeersch and Quintin Hermans both ride for Alpecin-Deceuninck, the same team as Matthieu. They were riding either for themselves, or their trade-team.

If you watched this race and tried to understand tactics from a national-team perspective, you'll have completely misunderstood. Wink