"Are you a 100% idiot here?" - Mathieu van der Poel heavily criticized by American Chris Horner following odd Tirreno-Adriatico tactics

Former American pro rider Chris Horner has talked about the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on his Youtube channel and has launched very harsh remarks on the racing of Mathieu van der Poel. The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider pushed on the day's final climb and broke the peloton apart, dropping Jasper Philipsen in the process, and continued to press on; earning questions over what he was racing for.

The final stage to San Benedetto del Tronto featured two climbs early in the day, where Alpecin-Premier Tech first pushed the pace, and then in the second one van der Poel himself took over the pace in the peloton for the 7-kilometer long ascent. Because the climb only averaged 4.6%, the damage to the peloton was limited, but the pace was high enough to drop most sprinters. However, whilst at first the Dutchman began to force the pace with Jasper Philipsen in his wheel, this wasn't the case after a few kilometers.

In a post-race interview the Dutchman explained what the idea was: "The plan was to hurt some sprinters. As a team, we executed our little plan well". However there is a lot of context missing as the Dutchman's idea was certainly not that. After Philipsen was dropped, van der Poel continued to push the 35-rider group by himself over the top of the climb and the descent, distancing his leader and other teammates whilst carrying a group that threatened to disrupt a potential sprint on the stage.

It is almost unanimously agreed within social media and analysts that he was putting in an effort so as to prepare for Milano-Sanremo, on a climb that was not too different from Cipressa, although he did not refer to that. But it looked like a training ride, whereas his potential leadout role for Jasper Philipsen in the end was neglected and the Belgian ended up crashing, leaving the race empty handed.

“When I see that, I think 'Mathieu van der Poel, are you really doing what I think you are doing? Are you a 100% idiot here?' The moment his last teammate gives up, he keeps blasting on," he said in a recent Youtube video. "Jasper Philipsen must be asking himself: what is happening here? What is this guy doing? To me, it is clear that Van der Poel is trying to turn this into good training for Milano-Sanremo, but on a tactical level, that is ridiculous. Idiocy at its finest.”

The American also interpreted van der Poel's pacing as a training session however done on a day where the team had legitimate ambitions to win a stage with a different rider, which were actively being harmed by tactics.

"Don’t tell me how fantastic this is for Milano-Sanremo. If you don’t have enough form to do a lead-out for Jasper in stage three, and now you are blasting on at the front, that is very bizarre. But it gets even more hilarious. The best sprinter in the world is being dropped by his own teammate," Horner argues.

The final outcome of the stage, with the team bringing in no result, cast further insult to injury: "If Van der Poel had done the lead out, they would have always been safely at the front. He could have delivered Jasper a fantastic victory. Instead, he is sitting at the back after just doing a training ride".