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.
Dylan Groenewegen lost the Dubai Tour race lead after being penalised for drafting following a mechanical (Foto LaPresse - Fabio Ferrari)
(Image credit: LaPresse/ Fabio Ferrari)
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*****.”
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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.
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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.
