“They wanted to screw the peloton, but in the end they mainly screwed themselves" - Louis Vervaeke slams UAE Team Emirates antics at La Fleche Wallonne

With a strong team on paper, UAE Team Emirates held some lofty ambitions ahead of La Fleche Wallonne 2024. Sadly for them though, it turned into a disaster day with none of their seven-man team even finishing.

The likes of Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida, Brandon McNulty, Marc Hirschi and more all succumbed to the conditions on a bitterly cold and wet day in the Ardennes. One man who has no sympathy for the UAE Team Emirates roster however, is Soudal - Quick-Step's Louis Vervaeke, also a DNF on the day.

Read also

VIDEO: Shivering Mattias Skjelmose literally carried out of La Fleche Wallonne after abandon

“Just when it started to rain, they attacked. So you didn't have time to go to the car to get clothes. I immediately rode to the front, but in the chaos that followed I never got another jacket,” Vervaeke explains in conversation with Het Nieuwsblad. 

“It's a tactic like any other,” the experienced, 30-year-old Belgian adds. “They wanted to screw the peloton, but in the end they mainly screwed themselves. At the moment of their attack I thought: they must have rain gear, but apparently, that was not the case.”

Read also

"Jonas is a special guy. He may recover quickly" - 'Too early' to rule Vingegaard out of Tour de France says Visma DS