[Video] Frenchman furious about the finish after a rule change for Van der Poel: ‘Disgusting’

Before the start of the world championship cross-country on the mountain bike, it was only about one subject: the starting positions of road toppers such as Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock and Peter Sagan. The UCI deviated from its rules at the last minute and decided to move these three world top riders a few rows forward during the MTB World Championships. Not a good decision, Victor Koretzky showed immediately after crossing the finish line.

And not pretty much either: the Frenchman crossed the finish line in fourth place and first crossed the line with both thumbs down, before making the ‘fuck you’ gesture towards the jury and the UCI. It should be clear: Koretzky was very angry with the UCI…

The mountain biker thought that the eventual winner of this championship, Pidcock (and therefore also Van der Poel and Sagan), would be biased with the starting position they had received beforehand. “It’s not fair play at all, it’s disgusting, there are no other words for it,” he said angrily after the race to the French sports newspaper, among others. The Team. “If I start on the fifth row with Pidcock, I can fight with him for the win, because I lose 20 seconds from the start.”

Koretzky finds UCI decision ‘disgusting’

And now Koretzky had to take place behind Pidcock, Van der Poel and Sagan. In addition, the number four of this championship, and the number two of the previously held short race, the comparison with road cycling. “It’s like I’m going out on the road and they let me go five kilometers ahead of the rest of the peloton,” the Frenchman explained minutes after crossing the line. “I’m disappointed, I showed that I was almost as strong as him, the effort I have to put in at the start of the race, to get back to the front of the race, is the one I can’t make at the end of the race. It has reached a disgusting level. I think everyone sees the problem.’

Koretzky also has another example, where he outlines why starting positions are so important in mountain biking. “If he passes at the front, it goes faster because he’s at the front, whereas if he had started at the back it might have been different. It’s not normal, not legit. The UCI really has questions to ask. We all fight all year to train, to progress and then we don’t all start on an equal footing.’

Jordan Sarrou on Pidcock and Van der Poel: ‘I’m glad they’re coming to race’

Compatriot Jordan Sarrou agrees with Koretzky: he also thinks the UCI has not made the right decision. Unlike Koretzky, Sarrou has seen the head of the race, even being in the leading group for a long time with the subsequent winner Pidcock. “I didn’t think he would win, hats off. Because starting from the back… The strategy was to start fast and get a gap, and he managed to close that gap. I thought he would pay for it at the end of the race, but no. He was really stronger today.’

Yet Sarrou, who finished in eighteenth place, also has his doubts. “I’m glad they’re coming to race, it’s good for our sport but it’s the UCI that didn’t make the right decision. It’s unfair to everyone, there are quotas, we ride for Olympic points all year round. The right decision would have been had they respected the rules and not changed them 24 hours before the race.”