"I didn't think it was really dangerous" - Yves Lampaert defends himself against wave of criticism

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team and Lotto Soudal got in a very heated dispute for bonus seconds yesterday at the Baloise Belgium Tour, as Mauro Schmid and Tim Wellens battled for the overall classification. Quick-Step came out on top, however Yves Lampaert was disqualified as a result.

“It was very hectic. There was quite a bit of pushing and pulling on both sides. I think everything went pretty fair," Lampaert said after the race. His move ended up giving him a disqualification, however not a big consequence for the rider who was sitting in eighth place in the overall classification, as the race win was the goal. Lampaert twice blocked Wellens in the second and third intermediate sprints of the Golden Kilometer, a move unacceptable for the race jury.

Across social media there was a lot of criticism towards the Belgian team, not only calling initially for Lampaert's disqualification but also for the award of the overall classification to Tim Wellens as the moves may have decided the outcome of the race.

“It may have looked a bit spectacular on TV, but that's the race. Before the first sprint, I got a few bites from the Lotto Soudal riders myself," Lampaert argued. Nevertheless he was stripped of his result, which came as fruit of his win in the race's individual time-trial. "That the jury is going to look at this? I think a ban would be a severe punishment. I didn't think it was really dangerous," he concluded.