SCHMID SECURES TOUR OF BELGIUM TITLE AFTER CONTROVERSIAL INCIDENT.- ‘A BIT OF ARGY-BARGY THERE’.
Mauro Schmid grabbed the overall victory at the Baloise Tour of Tour as QuickStep-AlphaVinyl celebrated a double victory on the final day of racing. However, there was controversy during the race with 6km to go as second-places Tim Wellens – riding on the same time as Schmid – appeared to get blocked in as Schmid took advantage for bonus seconds and eventually snatched victory.
QuickStep-AlphaVinyl rider Mauro Schmid won the Baloise Tour of Belgium in controversial circumstances, as a mid-race tussle swayed the victory in the Swiss’ favour.
With 6km to go in the race, second-place Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) was knocked and closed in by QuickStep’s Yves Lampaert in the decisive third Golden Kilometre sprint, as Schmid took full advantage and gained crucial ground on Wellens.
The incident was kind to Schmid who took the seconds, giving him the cushion he needed to prevent Wellens from overtaking him for the overall win.
The incident caught the attention of the Eurosport commentators.
“A bit of argy-bargy there,” Brian Smith said. “That was an intentional block from Lampaert.
“There is still this argy-bargy between Lampaert and Wellens.”
At the finish, a disappointed Wellens admitted that the controversial incident cost him the overall win.
“Yeah, this cost me the victory at the Tour of Belgium,” he said. “I’m disappointed, but I think we can say we did everything to try to win this.”
Schmid denied knowledge of any potential wrongdoing in his post-race interview, insisting he “did not see it.”
“I don’t know what happened. I did not see,” Schmid said. “Both of the teams did what they could to take the seconds.
“The team did the perfect job for me. I made a mistake in the first sprint, as I let a gap open up. I wasn’t attentive.”
QuickStep-AlphaVinyl enjoyed a double victory on the final day of racing, Schmid claiming the overall victory whilst Fabio Jakobsen won Stage 5 from the group sprint in Beringen.
