Thibaut Pinot did not make a friend in the peloton on Thursday. At the end of the stage linking Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais, the American Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) did not hide his frustration with Thibaut Pinot, whom he reproaches for not having collaborated in trying to get Ion Izagirre and play for the stage victory after having swallowed Mathieu van der Poel a little earlier.
“I’m angry because I had the legs to win today. I really tried, but Pinot was always in my wheel and he didn’t cooperate at all. Every move I made was wasted because of him. I don’t know why he did that,” lamented the 24-year-old runner.
Pinot, sixth in the stage and tenth in the general classification, admitted on arrival that he did not have the legs to do better in the final. Jorgenson, bitter, also attacked Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team), also pointed out for his lack of collaboration. “I don’t want to name anyone at the moment but we rode with two riders on the rack. They were continually jumping on the attacks at the head of the race…”, regretted the bitter Californian after his third place.
