Christoph Roodhooft does not want to justify the incident between Jasper Philipsen and Pascal Eenkhoorn, but calls the analyzes ‘populist’.
Jasper Philipsen has received fierce criticism in recent days. The Belgian top sprinter from Alpecin-Deceuninck was not pleased that some riders tried to break away from the peloton during the 18th stage. When Pascal Eenkhoorn attacked, he even drove next to the Dutchman and then cut him off.
Sports director Christoph Roodhooft did not see the incident live because he had poor reception. “But because I knew I would get questions about it, I studied the images more closely and I noticed Eenkhoorn’s first move,” says Roodhooft to Sporza. “He actually did exactly the same as what Filip Maciejuk did in the Tour of Flanders. He was then shot down by everyone.”
“No one pays any attention to Eenkhoorn’s move. If you make an analysis, you have to start from the beginning and not jump in halfway and act a bit populist.”
Youthfulness
Nevertheless, Roodhooft does not want to justify the behavior of his sprinter. “Jasper’s behavior is not necessary, that must also disappear. No one benefits from it, not even himself. But we must not exaggerate either. Is it stress? Youthfulness? That will be.”
Finally, he thinks that the green jersey is being targeted too much. “We also saw that with Mathieu van der Poel. He was declassified in Nogaro, but I saw much better things in the days afterwards. Only that was not for the stage victory and those riders were not called Van der Poel. And so it was tolerated,” said Christop Roodhooft.
