The Amstel Gold Race has received a lot of controversy in recent days. For example, a lot has been written about the car of race director Leo van Vliet, but there was also the bicycle change of Tadej Pogacar. That too is now being criticized.
About 40 km from the finish, at the foot of the Kruisberg, Tadej Pogacar changed bikes. He had been driving around with an idler for several kilometers. After the change he was back in the leading group within a minute.
“At that moment, the UAE support vehicle was driving immediately behind the leading group, but it was not really allowed to be there,” Dirk De Wolf said in Cycling Club Wattage. Support vehicles may only drive behind a leading group if the lead is large enough and the UCI gives the green light. “The lead was then 20 to 25 seconds, which is not big enough,” said De Wolf.
According to De Wolf, it had to do with the fact that it concerned Pogacar: “If it had been another rider, that would not have happened.”
Jan Bakelants also thought that maneuver was impossible. “It had a very strong impact on the result,” he said. “Pogacar must have waited a long time for a new bike, because the support vehicle was then behind the peloton.”
“Pogacar should then have started a catch-up race. Or a lot of riders who were actually knocked out of the race would have had a chance again”, according to Bakelants, were the different scenarios.
