LottoNL-Jumbo sprinter Dylan Groenewegen has slammed his own team mechanics after he lost the Dubai Tour blue leader's jersey following a penalty from the commissaires.
The Dutchman suffered a mechanical problem with 70km left to race on stage three and was paced back to the peloton by his team car.
But the judges ruled he had sat in the cars draft for too long and penalised him 20 seconds, obliterating the two second lead he held at the start of the day over Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) and plunging him down to 42nd on general classification.
The Dutchman had no quibble with the judges’ decision to penalise him 20 seconds for drafting his team car but instead directed his fury at his own team.
“I had problems with my bike, the mechanicals f***** it up for me. I actually think it was a good decision by the judges but it f***** it up for me,” he said.
“It’s the fault of my mechanics,” he said. “It was my goal to win the Dubai Tour but now it’s really difficult. Maybe we’ll see on the last day.
He added: “My second bike was f***** too, that’s why I changed it. It was the bottom bracket. It was completely f*****.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHQpOM07U1s
Gorenewegen won the opening stage of the five day race, beating Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana) to the line on the stage from Skydive Dubai to Palm Jumeirah, taking the overall lead. Despite eventually making it back to the peloton on Thursday's stage, he was unable to contest the finish which was won by Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data).
When asked if he realised he had stayed behind the team car longer than was allowed Groenewegen said: “I stayed behind the car because it was really windy and the race was broken into two groups.”
The Dubai Tour continues on Friday with its only summit finish of the race to Hatta Dam, which will likely play a large part in deciding the race's overall winner.
-
-
Training through the pain
It’s a universal truth in cycling: when the hard effort hurts too much, we back off and slow down. But can we train our ability to tolerate pain? Steve Shrubsall finds out
-
11 alternative kits with more flair than (most of) the WorldTour would know what to do with
Gravel, crit, and amateur teams have some of the best kits (fact)
-
Tom Dumoulin confirms he will ride for the overall at a Grand Tour in 2022
The former time trial world champion hasn't had a serious go at a Grand Tour since the 2018 Tour de France
-
The Tour de France is not an "obsession" says Roglič
The Slovenian rider said that Jumbo-Visma need to "think carefully" about their plans for the Tour
-
'I don’t think I’ve reached the top of my abilities yet': Tiesj Benoot breaks contract with Team DSM to join Van Aert and Roglič at Jumbo-Visma
The Belgian talent will be vital support for the Dutch squads leaders on all terrain
-
'It was chaos from section one': Wout van Aert says victory was not possible for him at Paris-Roubaix 2021
The Belgian champion admits he was mispositioned when Mathieu van der Poel made his key attack
-
Tom Dumoulin still plans to continue cycling career next year
The Dutch star was knocked from his bike by a driver, which spoiled his World Championship ambitions
-
Wout van Aert says he's 'happy he made it to the finish in one piece' after avoiding late Tour of Britain crash
The Belgian champion had to hand his leader's jersey back to Ethan Hayter, who won the stage
-
Wout van Aert hails 'special finish' on Great Orme at Tour of Britain after beating Julian Alaphilippe
The Belgian champion is using the British race as a key warm-up for a home World Championships
-
Rohan Dennis signs for Jumbo-Visma from Ineos Grenadiers
Australian joins Dutch squad on a two-year deal from 2022
