Rival DS notes dirty tactics of Lidl-Trek: "They were clearly using every trick in the book"

Last weekend, the first ever edition of the Copenhagen Sprint took place, a new World Tour race. Lidl-Trek had high hopes for Danish hero Mads Pedersen, but ultimately it was Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's Jordi Meeus that emerged victorious.

One of the teams that were left disappointed was Uno-X Mobility, as their sprinter Soren Waerenskjold crossed the line in 10th. Speaking to Feltet.dk afterwards however, the Norwegian team's sports director Emil Vinjebo noted some of the perceived dirty tactics used by Lidl-Trek in the finale.

“They were deliberately blocking in the corners and slowing the pace — that’s allowed. But they were clearly using every trick in the book to help Daan Hoole stay out front for as long as possible," explained Vinjebo of a dramatic finale that saw Lidl-Trek's Hoole part of a break desperate to stay away in the last few kilometres. Despite his clear frustration at the tactics, Vinjebo ultimately concedes he understands why. "Fair enough,” he adds.

From there, Waerenskjold as mentioned, could only claim a top 10 at the finish line. “It’s hugely frustrating that Soren couldn’t stay on Stian Fredheim’s wheel at the end. Had he done that, I think he would’ve won the race,” Vinjebo reflects, further adding to the DS' frustrations. “But it’s extremely difficult to hold your ground when everyone’s fighting for position right to the line.”

“We were holding back, trying to avoid doing the work since we weren’t the top favourites. Team Visma | Lease a Bike stepped up and gave it everything for Olav Kooij, who unfortunately crashed,” Vinjebo concludes his analysis of what was just a generally disappointing day for the Uno-X Mobility team. “But with about 20 kilometres to go, it became clear we had to contribute to the chase. That front group was too dangerous to let go.”