After being disqualified from the recent Marly Grav gravel race in the Netherlands, Johan Museeuw has offered up his side of the story.
The former Classics star, nicknamed the Lion of Flanders, placed 17th in his age category behind winner Udo Bölts, a former team-mate of Jan Ullrich.
That was until the organisers got in touch by phone to tell Museeuw that he had been disqualified for failing to ride the correct course.
The problem lay in the fact he had ridden around a bottleneck, instead of waiting until it had cleared, he told Het Nieuwsblad, and blamed the organisers of the 155km race – held earlier this month – for allowing too many riders to take part.
“I think the organisation could have prevented this," he said. "We stood still there for half an hour, at least. And then I just kept on cycling. I tried to cycle on, but apparently that was not on the course."
He added that the race was, for him, about fun, and that he would continue to ride it. "What my place or result is, does not really matter to me," he said. “When they called me, they asked if I had followed the road. Yes, I followed the road, but when we stopped, I tried to ride through the forest without stopping and that was apparently wrong.
"If that is cheating for them, OK," Museeuw told Het Nieuwsblad. "For me it is mainly about having fun and I will continue to do it, but in my own way. I don't feel like dwelling on that for long either. There was a bit of chaos at that moment, but I didn't give any defence when they asked me if I had ridden through that forest like many others. Yes, I did that."
Johan Museeuw retired during the 2004 season, following a final outing in the Spring Classics that saw him place fifth at Paris-Roubaix – a race which, along with the Tour of Flanders, he had won three times during his career.
He continues to ride regularly, and to take part in gravel races.
