Comparisons to Powless and Stannard are quickly made: Zonneveld, Thomas, and Quick-Step share their thoughts about Dwars door Vlaanderen

People will be talking about this for a long time to come. Visma | Lease a Bike seemed to be in a winning position, but in the sprint, Matteo Jorgenson, Tiesj Benoot, and Wout van Aert lost to Neilson Powless. Immediately after the race, online comments poured in, comparing the race to a very infamous edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

"Whaaaat?!" That was the only word Geraint Thomas could utter after this bizarre edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen. The Brit could not believe his eyes, but it really happened.

And Thijs Zonneveld was also almost speechless. "It's unbelievable how badly Visma is messing this up. Not taking advantage of the extra men because you think you'll win anyway."

"The desperation to win"

Sports journalist Daniel Friebe joined in the criticism. He mainly saw that the problem lay with Van Aert. "The desperation for Van Aert to win there - for sentimental reasons, no doubt - probably piled unnecessary pressure onto him. Turned it into a 1v1 rather than a 3v1."

Soudal Quick-Step also joined the discussion. "We know the feeling, Visma," they said, referring to the 2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where Ian Stannard beat Niki Terpstra, Tom Boonen and Stijn Vandenbergh. The Dutch team reacted in a sportsmanlike manner and congratulated the winner, Powless. "All we can say is: well done, Neilson Powless."

Loss of Visma is "unforgivable," others have encouraging words

La Flamme Rouge calls Visma's tactics "unforgivable". "Visma were sure to win the sprint with WVA. Never tested Powless. Went straight to the sprint. Never tried to attack with one of the other two to put Powless in the middle."

Others are more sympathetic to the Dutch team because you must have done something wrong if you lose. What would the reaction have been if they had opted for a breakaway and lost? Perhaps everyone would have said that a sprint with Van Aert would have been a sure thing.

Read also

Powless single-handedly cracked Visma | LaB's trio code: "Never in a million years"

What a climax! Powless surprises everyone and beats Visma trio in Dwars door Vlaanderen

Extremely disappointed Wout van Aert says he has to make 'silly' statements after his blunder in Dwars door Vlaanderen

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