Attila Valter has offered an explanation for what happened with his Jumbo Visma team mate, Tiesj Benoot, on Saturday at Strade Bianche when tensions clearly crept into the camp in the finale of the race.
Valter has strongly denied he chased down Benoot after the group they were both in split in two, saying he was surprised Benoot thought he would that. But he insisted there was no lingering dispute with his team mate. While solo leader, and eventual winner, Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) was, at times, just seconds clear of the chasing group, he held them off for a brilliant win.
Many fans felt one of the Jumbo Visma riders should have sacrificed themselves for their team mate in closing down Pidcock. And when it appeared at one stage that Valter was towing riders up to Benoot, the Belgian rider looked back and clearly didn't like what he saw as he gesticulated in frustration.
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However, Valter has now given a full explanation, insisting he was not chasing down Benoot and saying it was clear from the TV images that he was not doing that.
Valter rode away from Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) on the penultimate gravel sector and went off in pursuit of Benoot, who was with Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty). As Valter closed in on them, Simmons and Mohorič were also closing behind him.
When Benoot looked back, he could see Valter riding after his group, with Simmons and Mohorič just behind. It clearly appeared to Benoot as if his team mate was towing their rivals back up to him, hence waving his hand in frustration.
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"It's clear that I didn't pull that group back. It would've been an amateur move. I waited until they got tired of the effort on the penultimate gravel sector, and when I saw they are struggling, I jumped to the Benoot group alone," Valter told Hungarian Eurosport.
"This could clearly be seen on TV too. I didn't see Tiesj's hand gesture, but later it became clear that he misunderstood the situation, I didn't even think for one second that he thought I pulled the group back. Jumbo-Visma is not the team that does these kind of things and I'm not that man either.
"Of course, I make mistakes but this wouldn't have been a mistake, this would've been selfishness on my part. Naturally I too have individual ambitions, but I'm not a selfish racer, and I was a bit surprised he thought I would do this."
However, he said after the race when he apologised for the mistakes he made, Benoot - who finished 3rd - said there was nothing to apologise for and that they would discuss any matters on the team bus.
"We knew that we had to communicate in the heat of the action and make decisions ourselves," Valter added. "There were situations that looked completely different from the outside, attacks that were being brought back for example. Tiesj never asked me to sacrifice myself for him, he also wanted both of us to be near the podium in the end.
"After the race he told his viewpoint, I told mine, the directors told theirs as well and we had a very positive discussion about what could've been done differently. Tiesj even said after the race that this 'disappointment' can be a good thing, because had we won the race, our mistakes wouldn't have been dealt with properly."
