“By the way, if they are going to do so little cyclo-cross – or say: Van der Poel only does the World Championships – then he is simply doing the
UCI a disservice," the 2003 and 2004 world champion continues. "They have made the
World Cup so compact especially for those two. If someone like Van der Poel ignores a large part of those cyclocrosses, then that is a big middle finger to the UCI."
"That is his full right, and it is impressive that you are that top rider who can even say: I am not going to do cyclocross this year. Then I fully support that. But they have now focused the entire season on them. If they then say: 'we are not coming', then you have to rely on your new top riders like Thibau Nys. And they have now put them at a disadvantage with the new World Cup calendar," Wellens adds. "They are already tired at the start of the World Championships, and even fresh it would have been difficult to beat men like Van der Poel or Van Aert in that championship.”