Van der Poel’s domestique crowned Danish time trial champion after eight months

Johan Price-Pejtersen may, after all, call himself the Danish time trial champion. After his victory in June, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was initially disqualified, but the decision has now been reversed, meaning the Dane will receive his gold medal after all.

A quick recap. The 25-year-old rider from (then) Bahrain Victorious seemed to provide a big stunt by beating Mattias Skjelmose for the national time trial title in a direct battle. The rider was two seconds faster than the big favorite—a grand celebration for Price-Pejtersen, who thus recorded his first and most significant victory ever.

However, on the way to the podium ceremony, things went differently. According to journalist Brian Nygaard, Lidl-Trek (Skjelmose's team) told the jury that Price-Pejtersen had been riding on the bike path during the race, violating UCI rules. As a result, the gold medal went to Skjelmose instead of the time trialist.

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Skjelmose disagrees, decision now reversed 

Skjelmose and his team did not want to comment on the situation after the race. "I have stated clearly that I will not answer questions about this, so think carefully before you ask anything," Skjelmose responded. "I'm happy with the jersey; it was a special experience. My time trial was good, although I knew it would be tough in the second part because of the headwind."

However, after a night's sleep, Skjelmose responded via Instagram to the chaos that arose after the finish. In doing so, the Dane stressed that he had never complained to the jury about the decision. "I didn't win the way I wanted to. The fact that Price-Pejtersen was disqualified and that I got the gold medal, as a result, is something I cannot and will not justify. I did not insist on that decision; on the contrary. I have a lot of respect for Johan; he is a good friend of mine. That's why I offered him the champion's jersey and medals in recognition of his achievement. That way, his special day cannot go down in history as a pure disappointment," he wrote.

Eight months later, the Danish Cycling Union (DCU) reversed Price-Pejtersen's disqualification. According to the DCU's website, this makes the Dane the official Danish time trial champion. In addition to the disqualification, he received a fine of 200 Swiss francs (about 1,500 Danish crowns) and a penalty of 50 UCI ranking points at the time. While the fine remains in place, the penalty on his UCI points has been reduced to 25 points.  

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