Arne Marit was already involved in the trap that cost Arnaud De Lie the continuation of the Four Days Marches yesterday. Despite scrapes all over his body, the Sport Vlaanderen rider started again today.
But when turning the local lap in Maubeuge, Marit again fell, after which he threw in the towel. “Especially the injury to his knee worries us,” says sports director Hans De Clercq.
“That final was really scandalous,” says Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal). “Here and there there were high embroidery and the road was littered with all kinds of things. Even before we started the local round, there was already a crash.”
Gilbert wrote on Instagram of the frustrations: “It was extremely dangerous, a shame. The UCI must have the course approved by an independent body so that this doesn’t happen again. Our safety depends on it. We as riders can no longer wait for reactions too slow.”
Gilbert made himself noticed a few times in his last Four Days of Dunkirk in the first two days. “I have a good feeling. I am no longer sick either. I can breathe normally again. That was two to three months ago. Mont Cassel on Saturday? We’ll see. I feel good already.”
