"I was a bit surprised by the tone of his message" - Ruben van Gucht responds after Remco Evenepoel savagely called him out for 'complete nonsense'

The Belgian cycling press has been lit up over the last week or so by a war of words between the double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel and Sporza analyst Ruben van Gucht.

The drama initially began following some comments by Van Gucht that Evenepoel took offence to. Speaking about Evenepoel's recent revelations that he and wife Oumi have embraced Islamic prayers of late, Van Gucht commented: "The fact is that in the last years of his career, he has really involved his wife's family in his victories and his performances. I hear that he is also trying to take care of that. Is that necessary? Is that not necessary? That is what he has to know for himself. I don't think many of his colleagues do it that way."

Somewhat understandably, Evenepoel didn't take too kindly to those comments. After refuting the idea that he 'takes care' of Oumi's family financially, Evenepoel savagely targeted Van Gucht's own personal life. "I don't know where you get your stories from, Ruben. Or is it difficult for you to believe that a Moroccan family has simply worked hard and is well-off? That says more about your limited worldview than about reality,” fumed the Soudal - Quick-Step leader. “The real truth is simple: love, respect and hard work have brought us where we are now. Not prejudices. Not gossip. And certainly not people who prefer to call themselves journalists, but prefer to spread nonsense. Maybe you should worry more about your own family, Ruben… Because we hear things too."

Following the fallout from this spat, Van Gucht has now responded to Evenepoel's comments, and attempted to clarify his own initial words. "I was a bit surprised by the tone of his message and the words he used,” Van Gucht began in conversation on ‘Radio 2’ with presenter Gilles De Coster. “I also wanted to clarify that the interpretation he, and later all the media, gave to my words wasn’t how I intended them. I never brought any financial context into my words or used language suggesting finances. People interpreted it that way, but it wasn’t my intention to discuss that.”

“The phrase ‘taking care of’ is often viewed as very positive in other contexts, but here it suddenly comes across as a lack or some kind of accusation. Whereas I actually saw it as a positive quality,” he continued. “The VRT’s deontological committee also looked into it. People might not like to hear this, but they found no journalistic error, aside from perhaps some unfortunate word choices.”

Finally, Van Gucht concluded by extending an olive branch to Evenepoel, telling the Belgian superstar he is welcome to properly clear the air in person over a pint or a coffee anytime.