Philipsen and Alpecin-Deceuninck take aim at passive Merlier: "I thought this was a big race…"

The fact that Merlier still took second place was, according to his own post-race flash interview, somewhat of a small miracle. Still, Philipsen would’ve liked to see a bit more responsibility from his compatriot riding for 'The Wolfpack'. "Maybe it’s a pity that Soudal-Quick Step didn’t add one more guy to the chase, because in the end they still did a lead-out for Merlier with three riders. At that point, I didn’t have anyone left — everyone was spent. I’d rather take a gamble and go for the win than end up second," he said, with a sharp undertone.

Merlier himself responded briefly in the mixed zone to the decision to use two riders for the lead-out and not sacrifice one for the chase on Pedersen. "They asked me from the car how my feeling was. I said the legs were not that good anymore. They were on the limit. At first, they also wanted to put someone on the front. But I asked to keep Bert (Van Lerberghe, ed.) and Paul (Magnier, ed.) for the lead-out," Merlier explained.

That explanation didn’t sit well with Alpecin-Deceuninck — nor with team manager Christoph Roodhooft, who spoke to outlets including Wielerrevue. "We tried to ride for first place, but it was naive to think first place actually matters…" said the Belgian cynically. "There were only three teams riding. I thought this was a big race, and that first place was important."

"I saw Uno-X and one guy from Soudal Quick-Step. Just one, while we used everyone and Jasper was ultimately left to fend for himself. If everyone had raced like we did, we would’ve still been racing for the win," Roodhooft pointed out. "In the sprint, Jasper got boxed in, but he was also completely on his own. Jasper had been busy trying to win that race, you know."

The sprint situation was even more frustrating for Alpecin-Deceuninck because Philipsen had been part of the decisive move with eventual winner Pedersen — alongside Olav Kooij. But the Visma | Lease a Bike rider crashed badly, and Philipsen suffered a flat tire. "Jasper was up there riding to Wevelgem, you know. He had a really good day," said Roodhooft. "We were in the right place, but constantly chasing the facts. That’s not a fun way to race."

According to the team boss, Philipsen had to ride too long on someone else’s bike, while Gianni Vermeersch crashed. So the absence of team leader Mathieu van der Poel was felt even more. Still, Philipsen was mostly full of praise for Pedersen after the race. "If you see how far out he attacked… Respect, seriously. It was a very long race with a lot of headwind, so to do that solo is an insane achievement."

When asked whether he thought he could’ve followed Pedersen without the flat, Philipsen wasn’t sure. "On the first passage of the Kemmelberg, I felt good — I could follow without going over my limit. At the end, I no longer had my best legs, but I think that was the case for everyone. It was going to be grueling either way, but you never know how the race would’ve unfolded. The Kemmelberg really burned in the legs. I would’ve liked to have been there, and maybe we would’ve had a totally different race. But that’s not how it went."