Google News
Wout van Aert shocked many after dropping the win at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Just before the end, he raised his hands to celebrate the victory, but David Gaud passed by him and achieved the victory. Van Aert could not believe what he did:
“Just watch the replay.
In the end, I raised the arms a bit too early,” Van Aert said, as quoted by velonews. “I am really ashamed to lose it like that. “It’s a big disappointment to not finish off all of our work today. And I had it in my hands,” he said.
“If I threw the wheel instead of celebrating, I just had it. If I just done one pedal stroke and throw my bike it’s one wheel of a difference. I am quite angry on myself. For sure I want to make up for it in the next couple of days”.
“I don’t think I’ve done this before,” Van Aert said. “It’s even something, when you see it with someone else, you question how it’s possible. Now I understand that feeling better”.
O'Connor and Gaudou on the race
Ben O’Connor commented on the whole situation: “I was ready there today and I took a bit of chance, but in the end, Jumbo was always going to look out for Wout, and even if you did something mega, it would come back for a sprint,” said O’Connor, who crossed the line 15th behind Gaudu.
“That’s how it goes in cycling,” O’Connor said. “The guy who does no work, you don’t see him all day, and they win. That’s just one of the strange things in cycling I guess”. Gaudou was confident that he could overtake Van Aert and he eventually succeeded.
“I saw even before Wout raised his arms that I had already passed him,” Gaudu said. “I was a bit far back and I told myself that he wasn’t going to manage it. I felt I had the strength and I went all-in. In the end, I see that Wout pulled up and I said to myself, I am going to do it, and I did”.