After being disqualified from the current Marly Grav gravel race within the Netherlands, Johan Museeuw has provided up his facet of the story.
The previous Classics star, nicknamed the Lion of Flanders, positioned seventeenth in his age class behind winner Udo Bölts, a former team-mate of Jan Ullrich.
That was till the organisers acquired in contact by telephone to inform Museeuw that he had been disqualified for failing to journey the proper course.
The issue lay within the reality he had ridden round a bottleneck, as an alternative of ready till it had cleared, he informed Het Nieuwsblad, and blamed the organisers of the 155km race – held earlier this month – for permitting too many riders to participate.
“I feel the organisation may have prevented this,” he mentioned. “We stood nonetheless there for half an hour, a minimum of. After which I simply saved on biking. I attempted to cycle on, however apparently that was not on the course.”
He added that the race was, for him, about enjoyable, and that he would proceed to journey it. “What my place or result’s, does probably not matter to me,” he mentioned. “After they referred to as me, they requested if I had adopted the highway. Sure, I adopted the highway, however once we stopped, I attempted to journey by the forest with out stopping and that was apparently flawed.
“If that’s dishonest for them, OK,” Museeuw informed Het Nieuwsblad. “For me it’s primarily about having enjoyable and I’ll proceed to do it, however in my very own approach. I do not really feel like dwelling on that for lengthy both. There was a little bit of chaos at that second, however I did not give any defence after they requested me if I had ridden by that forest like many others. Sure, I did that.”
Johan Museeuw retired through the 2004 season, following a closing outing within the Spring Classics that noticed him place fifth at Paris-Roubaix – a race which, together with the Tour of Flanders, he had received 3 times throughout his profession.
He continues to journey commonly, and to participate in gravel races.
