It has lengthy been predicted that the 2023 Paris-Good could be a fierce battle between Jumbo-Visma and UAE Workforce Emirates, with the previous crew backing Jonas Vingegaard towards his rival Tadej Pogačar.
Tensions appeared to come back to a boil in an surprising second in the course of the method to the intermediate time bonus dash on Monday’s stage to Fontainebleau when Vingegaard’s teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck appeared to body-check Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla).
The front-on digicam shot at first look appeared to point out Matthews drawing alongside Van Hooydonck as UAE Workforce Emirates led with 13.6km to go and take a tough proper into Matthews, inflicting the Australian to veer sharply and fortunately had the talents to maintain himself upright.
Commentator José De Cauwer winced on the incident, saying Van Hooydonck ought to be cautious as a result of “VAR is watching” – referencing the UCI jury’s comparatively new video replay guidelines.
Van Hooydonck fell in need of denying Pogačar the six-second time bonus, coming third behind Matthews. He later defended himself in response to Sporza‘s submit concerning the conflict.
“I used to be pushed myself, could not transfer. I do not assume José has raced for a very long time or wants glasses,” the Belgian replied.
Upon nearer inspection, one of many riders in Pogačar’s lead-out practice to Van Hooydonck’s left will be seen shifting to the proper in response to a Groupama-FDJ rider trying to insert himself within the bunch.
The ensuing shoulder nudge to Van Hooydonck seems to be what despatched him careening into Matthews, and the outcomes present that the Jumbo-Visma rider was not penalized for his actions.
Pogačar gained the dash, placing himself 12 seconds forward of Vingegaard within the total standings forward of Tuesday’s crew time trial.
Ik werd zelf geduwd, kon geen kant op. José heeft volgens mij al lang niet meer gekoerst of heeft een bril nodig.March 6, 2023
