This Brabantse Pijl was a very eventful race for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team. Julian Alaphilippe suffered a crash caused by his own team car riding through the peloton with one lap to go, however Remco Evenepoel received the most attention and also backlash during and after the race.
With just over 70 kilometers to go Evenepoel was part of a small move that went off the front of the peloton, where it was clear his eagerness to push on. With some discontent with the INEOS riders present in the group Ben Turner and Magnus Sheffield, Evenepoel gave a slight push to Ben Turner which caused some backlash.
Eurosport UK commentator Adam Blythe was quick to call Evenepoel a "spoilt little brat". All over social media there was criticism of the young Belgian rider, and he was given a warning by race officials. Evenepoel went on to be blocked at the final sprint, gesturing to the riders in front, Tim Wellens was later relegated for an irregular sprint which almost caused the Belgian to crash.
After the race Evenepoel has told in an interview that "that push was not the intention and should not have been necessary. I just wanted to go with it. Pidcock came along backwards and they wanted to play the team game. That's their right. That's not fun for us, but that's racing and tactical riding. I immediately apologized. That's also a piece of course and nervousness, but again: my apologies for that."
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