"Did he ask you if you want to ruin his career?" Gianni Vermeersch controversy at Strade Bianche leads to further criticism from the peloton

Following the altercation between Gianni Vermeersch and James Shaw at Strade Bianche, there has been criticism from many towards Vermeersch, none louder than Jos van Emden.

Having seen the video of the altercation, van Emden took to twitter to announce his support for the British rider. "James Shaw my new best friend," he wrote. "James, did he ask you if you want to ruin his career?"

Van Emden and Vermeersch are no stranger to a bit of controversy in relation to each other. At the 2021 Giro d'Italia, van Emden was sent to hospital for five days after a crash that was in his opinion brought about by the dangerous behaviour of Vermeersch.

It would seem that both van Emden and Shaw have the backing of others in the peloton also with Loïc Vliegen retweeting the video of the Strade Bianche altercation and saying "no respect during the race, but not even after..."