"The other teams, which also have increasing budgets, are not giving a damn" - Jan Bakelants on SD Worx Classics domination

Team SD Worx continued their domination of the women's peloton by securing another one-two win at Sunday's Tour of Flanders. Whilst Jan Bakelants is full of praise for the team he also believes their rivals could be doing more.

“It's not SD Worx's fault that they are so dominant," Bakelants analyses for Sporza. "They have their budget and use it to attract riders. They maximize their return on investment by bringing in the best possible riders." Instead, Bakelants believes that some blame must go to the rival teams for not doing enough to challenge SD Worx's dominance.

"The other teams, which also have increasing budgets, are not giving a damn," he critiques. "For example, years ago Canyon//SRAM was one of the leading teams in women's cycling, today they are not really competing except for a desperate attempt by Soraya Paladin. Movistar especially missed Van Vleuten, because Lianne Lippert was quite good. She was actually the only one who rode dominantly up the Cauberg.

Absent from the start line on Sunday was last year's Amstel Gold Race winner, Marta Cavalli, someone who Bakelants believes could challenge the all-conquering Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky. The Italian is still recovering mentally from her horrific crash at the Tour de France Femmes. "At a certain point you have to get over that if you want to be a rider, or you have to stop: it's that simple," says Bakelants. “Either you turn the knob and get back on the bike, or you dwell on it, but then you can no longer be a professional cyclist. So it's about time she worked on that."