Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe delete “disgraceful” podcast section branding Nairo Quintana “a little rat” following backlash; F1 chicanes for Paris-Roubaix?; Remco Evenepoel slams UCI head sock ban confusion; Cycle path or mud bath? + more on the live blog

Unfortunately for Oxford Labour councillor Anna Railton, this stretch of the NCN (or the NCXN, as we’ve grown fond of calling it in the road.cc office) between Woodstock and Banbury isn’t the kind of April Fool you want to be on the receiving end of during a nice, pleasant spring ride:

The NCN5 between Woodstock and Banbury everyone 🫣

(There was miles of this) pic.twitter.com/17t4Uf3zZV

— Cllr Anna Railton 🌹 (@rail_guns) April 1, 2024

“To be fair cycle.travel did warn me it was unpaved, but I assumed gravel not mud bath,” wrote Railton.

“British gravel that is…,” added pro rider and former British time trial champion Hayley Simmonds.

The finest mud-covered gravel around…

Say what you like about the notoriously steep and treacherous Koppenberg’s place in a monument classic – and many have – the carnage that unfolded as riders hopped off their bikes and clambered to the top, in a scene reminiscent of the climb’s infamous 1980s heyday or basically any cyclocross race during the winter, provided us with some of the great cycling images of the year, or decade, so far…

And off he goes… Van der Poel launches his third Flanders-winning attack as others, including escapee Iván García Cortina, come unstuck

 Mikkel Bjerg tries, and fails, to stick the landing

Is the Koppenbergcross in spring now?

And to think, the organisers rerouted the entrance to the Koppenberg, enabling the riders to enter its 20 per cent ramps at speed rather than from a dead turn, to make sure those very scenes wouldn’t happen this year. Oh, the irony.

[Credit for all images: Zac Williams/SWpix.com]

Like any epic day of bike action, it’s taken a few days to pick the bones out of Sunday’s sodden Tour of Flanders, following two races packed with chaos, talking points, and two completely different finishes, one which saw one of the dominant riders of his generation, Mathieu van der Poel, continue to exert his dominance, and edge ever closer to cycling immortality, and the other the (at least temporary) dethroning of the SD Worx empire, overthrown by the attacking aggression of Lidl-Trek.

On the more chaotic, unfortunate side of things, we reported yesterday that a Belgian athlete’s Paralympic hopes are hanging in the balance after riders in the men’s race collided with her as she stood on the roadside, in a crash allegedly caused by another spectator leaning in too closely to catch a glimpse of the charging peloton.

A broken arm but not a broken spirit 🫶#RVV24 #RVVwomen pic.twitter.com/Xwg2w4QEf0

— Lidl-Trek (@LidlTrek) March 31, 2024

Meanwhile, after Lizzie Deignan was confirmed to have suffered a broken arm in a horror crash early in the race – adding a slight dampener to teammate Elisa Longo Borghini’s stunning win – SD Worx confirmed yesterday that their Swiss star Marlen Reusser, who could be seen in pain after crashing alongside Deignan, will undergo surgery today for a broken jaw, ear canals, and eight broken teeth.

“An initial examination in the hospital in Belgium revealed a fracture to her right jaw,” the team said.

“The current Swiss champion underwent further examinations today at the Inselspital in Bern with the following diagnosis: in addition to the jaw, both ear canals and eight teeth are also broken. The 32-year-old will undergo surgery tomorrow, Tuesday, and will have to wear splints for around four weeks.”

Sending healing vibes & smoothie recepies to 🇨🇭 https://t.co/iUh5vgCWD3

— Christine Majerus (@C_Majerus) April 2, 2024

“A rider crashed in front of me and I had no chance to avoid her,” Reusser was quoted as saying. “I’m doing well and I’m in good spirits that I’ll soon be completely healthy again.”

In the men’s race, controversy raged over the decision to relegate the resurgent Michael Matthews from third to eleventh for this rather mundane, run-of-the-mill deviation during the sprint for the podium spots behind Van der Poel, a VAR intervention branded “BS” by the Australian’s Jayco-AlUla teammate Luka Mezgec:

BS. Terrible commissaire decision. If this is relegation, than we will see much more of those in the future and we should also see much more in the past. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lYzYHzJ3MJ

— Luka Mezgec (@lukamezgec) March 31, 2024

And, considering we’ll soon be turning our attentions to all things Paris-Roubaix, let’s soak in all that ‘cross-style chaos on the Koppenberg one last time:

The 2024 Koppenberg Massacre. ☠️There were only 3 survivors who didn’t put their foot down on the cursed cobbles: Mathieu van der Poel, Matteo Jorgenson and Mads Pedersen. #RVV24 pic.twitter.com/MQY4CUJe9U

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) March 31, 2024

Riders had to 𝗥𝗨𝗡 up the cobbles 🥵

The treacherous Koppenberg was too wet to cycle up in both the men’s and women’s Tour of Flanders 😳

Watch highlights of both races: https://t.co/8DXGYSjDo9 pic.twitter.com/18cNWRJV44

— Road Code (@RoadCode) April 1, 2024

Once a CX-er, always a CX-er. Merlier shouldering the bike like a pro running up De Koppenberg 👍🏻😂 #RVV24 pic.twitter.com/2xdY8bwNJ3

— Tonke (@TonkeBerg) April 1, 2024

He may have swapped the yellow of Visma-Lease a Bike for the green of Bora-Hansgrohe, but chaos and drama never lurk too far away when Primož Roglič is around, even when he’s winning it seems.

The Slovenian was bang back in form yesterday after a relatively under par Paris-Nice last month, storming around the streets of Irun to beat Jay Vine, Mattias Skjelmose, the unlucky Remco Evenepoel, and former teammate Jonas Vingegaard to take a morale-boosting first leader’s jersey of the Tour of the Basque Country.

But that didn’t stop him pulling a classic Roglič move in the closing stages of the 10km time trial, taking a surprise detour (while following the diversion for the support vehicles) on the very last corner:

You can take the man out of Visma, but you can’t take the Visma out of the man pic.twitter.com/dxT3lCxtD6

— GC KUSS (@GCKUSSfan) April 1, 2024

Oops!

But, with a resounding win over stellar opposition in the bag (made all the more impressive by his wrong turn), at least Primož could laugh about it later:

😂 PRIMOZ BEING PRIMOZ 😂

@rogla 🤝 @BORAhansgrohe

🏆 @BancoSabadell #Itzulia2024 pic.twitter.com/umXXZFypwO

— Itzulia Basque Country (@ehitzulia) April 1, 2024

And I’m sure the bosses at Bora will be hoping their star rider is simply getting all the residual Visma chaos out of his system before the Tour de France… 

While the best cycling April Fools’ jokes are always left to us (hands up, who fell for our 20mph reliability-style time trial story?), Remco Evenepoel and Soudal Quick Step were left wishing they’d checked the calendar a little closer yesterday, after eschewing the now-banned aero head sock during yesterday’s opening time trial stage of the Tour of the Basque Country – a day before the piece of wind cheating tech was officially banned by the UCI.

Last month, while also pledging to review Giro’s new space age TT helmet, the UCI announced that Specialized’s head sock component on its TT5 helmet will no longer be permitted for use in events after 2 April, as part of the governing body’s crackdown on “non-essential components that are not exclusively for clothing or safety purpose”.

> UCI to review design rules in light of Team Visma-Lease a Bike helmet and “ever more radical designs”

The ban was swiftly, and colourfully, described by Evenepoel as “laughable” and further evidence of the UCI “wanting to play with our balls” when it comes to signing off, and then rowing back, on technological advances in the sport.

While Bora-Hansgrohe and Primož Roglič (more on him in a moment) wore the infamous aero snood to victory one last time on yesterday’s 10km effort in Irun, a sock-less Evenepoel was forced to settle for fourth, eleven seconds down on Roglič, after crashing less than a minute into his ride.

The ITT world champion Remco Evenepoel crashed today right after the start, just 20 seconds into his ride. The good thing is that he didn’t injure himself but he definitely lost around 20 seconds because of it. #Itzulia2024 pic.twitter.com/7WQ7WZGVEC

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) April 1, 2024

And though the world time trial champion conceded that the crash – and not the lack of head sock – was behind his defeat, Remco did however claim that an email from the UCI informed the team that the head sock would not be permitted in competition from 1 April, not today as the original announcement detailed.

“We were not allowed to ride with it, Bora-Hansgrohe did it,” the 24-year-old told Sporza. “In Paris-Nice, we had already been told it would be the last time then.

“On the UCI website, it says that it is banned from April 2. The UCI has sent us an email that it would be banned from April 1. They don’t know themselves, I think.

“If they send this message to us, then it will be prohibited for us from April 1. They put it differently on their website. We didn’t want to take the risk, but this didn’t make the difference. But it’s weird, they do what they want.

“It’s just strange. They start to think of everything. This morning they said two hours before the start that the radios should stay on the back again. I don’t know what to make of it.”

In more pro cycling injury-related news, Tom Pidcock revealed last night that he suffered no fractures in the crash that ruled him out of the Tour of the Basque Country yesterday morning.

📹 Vídeo de cómo ha sido evacuado Tom Pidcock del autobús del Ineos a un hospital de Donostia. Un golpe de viento lo ha tirado en el kilómetro 9 del reconocimiento de la contrarreloj. #Itzulia

👉 https://t.co/kdhAZvQZdB pic.twitter.com/ISWIFM65eu

— Beñat Arnaiz (@BeArnaiz) April 1, 2024

The 2023 Strade Bianche winner looks set for another disrupted spring campaign this year, after landing heavily on his hip while reconning yesterday’s time trial in Irun and being carried by paramedics from his team bus to an ambulance, as seen in a video posted on social media.

However, early scans revealed that the 24-year-old didn’t break anything in the fall, with Ineos announcing that he will return home to begin his recovery – though it is currently unclear if he will miss the upcoming Ardennes classics.

Thank you for all the messages and well-wishes following @tompidcock‘s crash at #Itzulia2024 earlier today. Happily initial scans have revealed no fractures.

Hear from Tom as he prepares to head home and begin his recovery. pic.twitter.com/4egp4uFRFk

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) April 1, 2024

“I crashed during the recon. The wind took me out on one of the corners here in the circuit. I’ve hit my hip really hard and I can’t bear any weight on it at all,” Pidcock said in a video posted by Ineos.

“I am heading home now. I have had some scans and they didn’t show anything, but we will keep looking after it over the next couple of days because it doesn’t feel very nice.”

The European mind can’t comprehend this cycle commute. pic.twitter.com/HeZdJKuzb6

— James Stafford (@Jamesdestafford) April 1, 2024

Despite finishing a highly respectable 29th at the recent Nick Corkill Memorial Handicap road race on the Isle of Man, Mark Cavendish’s return to elite racing has been pushed back to the end of April following a bout of illness, his Astana team confirmed this morning.

Cavendish’s last competitive outing – not counting his regular racing foray on home roads – was at Milano-Torino on 13 March, which he failed to finish, after missing the time cut on stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico.

The 38-year-old was originally set to race tomorrow’s Scheldeprijs – a race he won in 2007, 2008, and 2011 – but Astana say a recent period of sickness and subsequent change of plan means the former world champion will next pin on a number on 21 April at the Tour of Turkey, where he’s bagged 11 stages in the past.

> Mark Cavendish rocks up at Isle of Man road race and finishes 29th

Cavendish will then race the Tour de Hongrie in mid-May, as he continues to build up his form ahead of his final ever Tour de France (and a last opportunity to take that outright stage win record), after a relatively anonymous start to the season, punctuated by a solitary early victory at the Tour Colombia.

“After being sick for several weeks following the Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Torino, Mark Cavendish has resumed his training, continuing his preparation for his biggest goals of the season,” Vasilis Anastopoulos, Astana’s head of performance said in a statement.

“The team has adapted the racing plan, and as a result, Mark will miss the classic race Scheldeprijs and will instead spend some time at a training camp. After that, he plans to compete in the Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye and then the Tour de Hongrie.”

You know it’s Paris-Roubaix week when Thibaut Pinot’s best mates are let loose on cycling’s most iconic 2km straight stretch of nasty, unforgiving ‘road’:

Hungry goats at the Arenberg today 🐐 #ParisRoubaix pic.twitter.com/IUThWh040i

— Anders Mielke (@AndersMielke) April 2, 2024

It really is the best sport in the world.

Sunday turned out to be some day for Elisa Longo Borghini.

First, the Italian champion won the Tour of Flanders for the second time in her career, executing one of the great tactical coups of recent years to unseat and unsettle the mighty SD Worx.

Then, after the trivial matter of winning a monument was over and done with, she managed to snag a photo with arguably the most famous man in Flanders: the classics’ scooter-riding race chaperone!

Finally a picture with my idol of this season! The man with the skate is real and not only someone on the tv screen! 😎 https://t.co/PidSRnhsma

— Elisa Longo Borghini (@ElisaLongoB) April 1, 2024

> Rolling into the new week like Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne’s scooter-riding chaperone

If Carlsberg did Sundays… 

> Council receives £400,000 funding for cycling routes, but refusal to unveil plans leaves active travel future in doubt

It’s been quite the purple patch for juicy quotes from cycling podcasts, hasn’t it?

(Unfortunately, while I can’t promise the same tabloid gold from this week’s road.cc pod episode, I can tell you it’s a good one, at least.)

While Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas are busy in the editing suite, tidying up some biting remarks at their fellow pros, their old boss Rod Ellingworth has been discussing the rise and fall of the Sky/Ineos empire, and his own part in it, on Matt Stephens’ Unplugged podcast.

A few weeks ago, Ellingworth was announced as the new race director of the Tours of Britain, after leaving the Ineos Grenadiers, where he was Deputy Team Principal, in November amid reports of internal tension and plans for a management overhaul.

> Ineos Grenadiers’ deputy chief Rod Ellingworth resigns from British team amid rumours of backroom tension, according to reports

And, as a key managerial and coaching cog in the Sky/Ineos machine during its 14-year spell in the peloton (barring an ill-fated year at Bahrain McLaren), Ellingworth is well placed to assess the reasons for the team’s unflinching dominance, especially at the Tour de France, throughout the 2010s – and why the British squad’s ongoing period of transition has seen them fall behind the likes of Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates in cycling’s pecking order.

“I think we felt like we had a system, it was like ‘here is this system, run them through the system and they’ll come out Tour de France champions on the other end’,” the 51-year-old told Stephens.

“But it doesn’t work like that, you’ve got to keep adapting. I think, yes, maybe there were a couple of years there where we just ran the same system in a way and it eventually caught up with us.

“2015, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, it felt a bit too easy in a way. It felt easy. We were dialled, we all knew our place, there was no egos, Dave [Brailsford] was trusting of us, of what we were doing.

“That lasted, I’d say, some of them concepts lasted eight years before other teams even cottoned on to what we were doing.”

Ellingworth also noted that Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival in 2019, and the Ineos man’s more “hands-on approach”, saw the nature of the team change when he returned from Bahrain in 2021.

“When I left it was maybe 100 [people working for the team], all of a sudden it went to 130, with lots of different roles, lots of different people,” he said.

“It’s like anything, it becomes a bit of a monster in some respects and really hard to manage and communication then is hard. The more people you’ve got, the harder it’s going to be.

“So it was different, but I think as well the team had massive expectations on every race, pressure was always on. I think inevitably the cycle of life catches up with people eventually and also a lot of good people had moved on.”

> “I feel a real responsibility to get this right”: Former Ineos manager Rod Ellingworth named as new Tour of Britain race director

The British Cycling Academy pioneer also admitted that disagreements – including over transfer policy – marred the end of his time at Ineos, where he says he felt increasingly “trapped”.

“Sometimes in life, you’re just not particularly happy. There were certain things where I was like ‘I just don’t totally agree’. I don’t have a problem with anybody or anything, but I just didn’t completely agree and then on the other hand, I’ve got three youngish children, I was spending seven months of the year away [and] it just gets harder,” he said.

“It’s not that I don’t want to work, but I just saw a different way of life ahead and I thought, if I don’t stop now, I’m going to get trapped and I don’t like being trapped. I felt I was sort of getting down that route and very much thinking about the family and the kids.”

CYCLING NEWS EXCLUSIVE!
Organisers add kissing gate to Arenberg entrance to slow riders down.
“Just to be clear, although there appears to be no rule preventing it, we are not expecting any kissing.” says spokesperson. pic.twitter.com/UYNle6tTu8

— Rob Whittle (@PolkaDotRob) April 2, 2024

Now that’s the kind of sight we’d almost certainly have to get used to seeing if the Hell of the North suddenly upped sticks to Worcester, or Newcastle, or Bolton, or…

Can’t have those pesky pro cyclists flying into the forest at 30mph – safety first!

> “Cycling infrastructure by people who’ve never used a bicycle”: Cyclist slams “utter shambles and non-inclusive” kissing gates obstructing a shared-use path

The entrance to the Trouée d’Arenberg, that wretched, iconic 2.3km section of jagged cobbles that usually marks the start of the battle for victory at Paris-Roubaix, is one of the most exhilarating – and frightening – moments of the cycling season.

However, the prospect of a full peloton screaming towards the famous forest at over 60kph on Sunday could be brought to a juddering halt, after the CPA riders’ union called on the Hell of the North’s organisers to add an F1-style chicane or two on the run-in to the Arenberg, in a bid to slow the bunch and make the ride through the forest – one that tends to ruin the hopes of at least one challenger each year – safer.

Speaking at a press conference today, Paris-Roubaix course designer Thierry Gouvenou admitted that he fully understands the dangers of the Arenberg.

“I raced here twelve times, and twelve times I arrived at the entrance to the Arenberg Forest wondering how I was going to get out,” he said, according to L’Équipe.

“The principle is to find turns to slow down the peloton and lengthen it, a bit like the chicane system on automobile circuits. Currently, they are arriving at around 60kph at Arenberg. If they could slow down to 30-35kph, it would be less risky. And that would highlight the difficulty of the forest because the riders would arrive without momentum.”

However, Gouvenou noted that any changes would require the approval of local authorities, while pointing out that the placement of the chicanes would need to be carefully considered, otherwise they could present their own danger.

“I wrote to the riders, warning them that there would be greater braking before the forest,” the course designer said.

“They told me that they preferred to brake hard at the risk of falling on the tarmac rather than entering the forest at 60kph.

“The riders are a little on edge and are asking us for a little more security to enter the forest, that doesn’t seem illogical to us. But it may be necessary to think in the longer term, in particular about the reasons behind certain crashes.”

Thierry, if you need some advice on blocking the entrance to a bike path – ostensibly for slowing down ‘racing’ cyclists – I could give you the number of a few local councils in the UK…

Paul Lapeira’s breakthrough season – along with his Decathlon AG2R team’s impressive start to 2024 – continued in style at the Tour of the Basque Country this afternoon, as 23-year-old promising French star comfortably outsprinted Astana’s Samuele Battistella from a reduced group on a draggy, sodden run to the line in Kanbo, as most of the overall favourites concentrated on keeping upright.

Lapeira, who had already won the Classic Loire Atlantique and Cholet Agglo Tour this spring before today’s maiden WorldTour win, initially attacked with 1.5km to go – perhaps not counting on his sprint – as the group split to pieces as riders began to slide out everywhere on the treacherously wet run-in.

C’est très glissant dans le final de cette 2e étape du Tour du Pays Basque ! Tao Geoghegan Hart est allé au sol avant les 3km, suivi un peu plus loin de Romain Grégoire pourtant très bien placé. #Itzulia2024 pic.twitter.com/9gEhgxu9rA

— Départ Fictif (@DepartFictifOff) April 2, 2024

One of the riders to fall foul of the Basque Country’s famously damp weather was Tao Geoghegan Hart, Lidl-Trek’s British stage racer crashing on a bend with over three kilometres to go (thus ensuring he would lost time on GC) and looking in considerable pain.

Lidl-Trek later confirmed that Geoghegan Hart suffered a “few bruises” in the crash, with a further update to come later.

Paul Lapeira won the 2nd stage of @ehitzulia on French soil after a dominant sprint. 💪🇫🇷 He made a huge step forward this year just like Decathlon-Ag2r. The big GC guys refused to sprint on wet roads and rightfully so. #Itzulia2024
📽️ @SenalDeportes pic.twitter.com/6pbjwonEtq

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) April 2, 2024

Up ahead, after Lapeira was brought back, his Decathlon AG2R quickly switched things up, as Bruno Amirail launched a strong, lengthy lead out for his young teammates, as all the big favourites – with the exception of Jonas Vingegaard, who stayed tight to the front for maximum security – opted to stay out of the sprinting fray in the soaking wet conditions.

Amirail’s lead out set things up perfectly for Lapeira, who reacted to Battistella’s early surge by easily outkicking the Italian for a breakthrough win at the highest level in the rain.

There’s been high drama in the Scott boardroom over the past week or so, it seems, as Beat Zaugg, who has served as the bike manufacturer’s CEO since 1998, has claimed that he’s still in charge – despite the parent company dismissing him last week.

The contested sacking has led to a bizarre power struggle, which has resulted in Zaugg questioning his successor Kim Juwon’s credentials to lead the brand in the European bicycle market.

Read more: > Scott Sports caught in bizarre “power struggle” as fired CEO Beat Zaugg rejects parent company’s decision and claims he’s still in charge

Hell hath no fury like a Colombian cycling fan scorned, it seems.

Last week, you may remember (if you reach back through the weekend’s chocolatey, Ronde-filled haze), former Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España winner Nairo Quintana came in for some considerable stick from his podcast-wielding colleagues in the peloton.

First, Bahrain Victorious veteran Wout Poels, speaking on the In Koers podcast he hosts with Visma-Lease a Bike rider Dylan van Baarle, claimed that Quintana had elbowed him and acted “aggressively” while battling for position on a climb at the Volta a Catalunya, prompting Poels to joke that the Colombian Movistar rider was “definitely on tramadol again”.

> “Maybe I shouldn’t have said it but he was stupid enough to use it in the Tour”: “Aggressive” Nairo Quintana asked if he was “on tramadol again” by Wout Poels during Volta a Catalunya spat – as Dutch rider claims he was also punched by Iván García Cortina

And on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast – recorded before Poels’ anecdote was released to the public – the Dutch rider’s old Sky teammates, 2018 Tour winner Thomas and Luke Rowe, also made a less than subtle dig at Quintana during a discussion about possible contenders for this year’s Giro.

“He shouldn’t even be racing,” Thomas said when the 34-year-old’s name popped up, a reference – assumed by many on social media – to Quintana’s recent troubles with the anti-doping authorities, including his tramadol-related disqualification from the 2022 Tour de France (and subsequent dismissal by Arkéa Samsic), a few hotel raids during his spell at the French squad, and the recent revelation that his former doctor is due to go on trial in France later this year for alleged criminal doping offences related to his time with Quintana.

Anyone else read between the lines that Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe don’t love Quintana? pic.twitter.com/xa89oHyL7U

— Seb (@MLT2022) March 26, 2024

“I know. Little f***ing rat,” Rowe agreed, eliciting a few laughs, before the podcast was moved swiftly on to safer ground.

Of course, the Ineos Grenadiers’ Welsh duo have been known for making blunt assessments, rapidly discarded as jokes (just ask Remco Evenepoel), on their podcast.

But Thomas and Rowe – whose Ineos team, some Nairo fans pointed out, haven’t been immune from anti-doping investigations, especially in their previous guise as Sky – probably weren’t expecting the levels of backlash they received from disgruntled Quintana advocates on social media, who branded the comments a product of “British supremacy and hypocrisy”.

(Zac Williams/SWPix.com)

“Team Sky riders pointing fingers at others… heh, the irony,” wrote Louis, while Robinson branded Thomas and Rowe a “pair of clowns”.

“Well, nobody knows who Luke Rowe is to be honest,” said JC (not the Easter-related one, I presume), evoking the classic football fan response to criticism of their favourite player.

“When was respect between riders lost in this way?” asked Juan, while Nestor described Rowe as “persona non grata in Colombia”. Yikes…

“It was disgraceful,” added Maria. “And not even an apology afterwards?

“I’ve never been a fan of Thomas or Ineos and with these comments, that’s it for me. I am a huge fan of Quintana. Am I biased? Of course! That doesn’t make what GT and LR did acceptable in any way.”

Even outside Colombian cycling circles, the response to Thomas and Rowe’s comments were mixed, to say the least.

Cycling YouTuber Benji Naesen said: “I like the beef, but it was highly ironical to hear a rider who was part of the team where Richard Freeman was active, say that Quintana shouldn’t be in the sport because he took a product that wasn’t even on the doping list.”

“I’m Colombian but I’m not mad because of it,” said Marcela. “I just think that ‘rat’ expression is highly offensive regardless the rider. They might have said it as a joke but I can’t find anything to laugh about.”

“Was listening and thought it was a bit much for a mainstream podcast,” agreed Drew McKinley.

“It’s a disgrace regardless of any nationality or patriotism,” wrote Egan van der Poel (not his real name, I imagine). “I’ve never heard a cyclist referring to a colleague in such a horrible way.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

However, others weren’t as willing to condemn Thomas and Rowe for their typically blunt appraisal.

“Honestly I think this gets blown out of proportion here, two British guys who call Remco a bastard every week or try to start drama in the Belgian press don’t mean something like that seriously,” wrote Leo, while Jeffry said: “To be fair based on other podcasts probably 70 per cent the peloton has that opinion.”

Nevertheless, the backlash was sufficient enough for the section to be quietly removed from the podcast episode, never to be spoken of again…