Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Matteo Jorgenson responded to criticism he received after Wednesday's race for continuing to race on following the mass crash which saw his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Wout van Aert abandon with multiple fractures.
Van Aert hit the deck hard along with several other big names including Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, and Biniam Girmay at 67km from the finish, leaving Jorgenson among a select group at the front of the race to contest the final of the Tour of Flanders warm-up.
He and Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Tiesj Benoot played the run to the line tactically perfectly to beat the likes of Stefan Küng, Josh Tarling and Jonas Abrahamsen to the win. On Thursday morning, Jorgenson took to social media to talk about his race.
"So about yesterday..." Jorgenson wrote on Twitter. "I really want to wish everyone that went down the best in their individual recoveries, however long and arduous they may be. It was a big relief to get news after the finish that no one was in critical condition. Having seen the crash first-hand, I imagined a far worse outcome."
He continued on to issue a response to criticism that he had raced on after the mass crash, which has seen Van Aert ruled out of both Flanders and Paris-Roubaix after sustaining a fractured collarbone and ribs.
"After a few seconds of shock having barely escaped myself, I tried as hard as I could to bring myself out of it. As we got onto the foot of the Kanarieberg, I felt some responsibility to honour what has gone into this," Jorgenson wrote.
"The sheer man-hours, planning, late nights and early mornings put in by our staff and of course all the teammates that had spent 150km dying in the wind to bring us there in the front...
"Why would I let all of that go to waste? We already lost our leader, our strongest rider and the heart of our Classics team, should we then just throw in the towel?"
Jorgenson, who won Paris-Nice earlier this month, concluded by saying he and Benoot had "honoured the display" that Van Aert had planned for the final of the race.
"I am proud of how Tiesj Benoot and I continued to fight, and I hope we honoured the display that Wout van Aert was planning to put on. Anyway, see you all Sunday where all of Visma-Lease A Bike will try to do him proud."
Jorgenson also took to Instagram to post his pre-race planning notes for Dwars, listing out sectors of the 188.6km race where the team would have to stay in front or be vigilant, including the very section where Van Aert crashed on a fast descent.
One notable line reads, "km121 Will be chaos on downhill but fight like hell to be with the guys and then GO TIME ON KANARI" – the section of the race where Van Aert was caught up in the mass crash. [Scroll down to check out his full race notes below – Ed.]
Following his win at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Jorgenson – who was expected to play a role as a domestique de luxe for Van Aert and Visma's other top contenders Christophe Laporte and Dylan van Baarle – will now be stepping into a leadership role for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
Former Paris-Roubaix champion Van Baarle is a doubt for Flanders, with the Dutchman having missed Dwars due to illness and having last raced at the E3 Saxo Classic (March 22).
2023 Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars champion Laporte, meanwhile, hasn't raced since Milan-San Remo two weeks ago after suffering from stomach problems and saddle sores. He'll miss Flanders and is racing against time to be fit for Paris-Roubaix.
Jorgenson and Benoot – who hurt his ribs in a crash at the E3 Saxo Classic – both look to be on form and fighting fit, though Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Jan Tratnik was a DNF at Dwars having also crashed out of Gent-Wevelgem.
Matteo Jorgenson's pre-race notes for Dwars door Vlaanderen
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