The Jumbo-Visma riders regret that Merijn Zeeman was kicked out of the Tour de France on Thursday. The sports director was sent home by the organization, because he verbally let himself go against a jury member.
“Merijn spoke to us yesterday,” says Wout van Aert. “He, of course, regretted having to go home and regretted that he had drawn attention to himself in this way. He asked us to focus on the course.”
According to the two-time stage winner in this Tour, the absence of Zeeman makes no big difference for the riders. “We are just working on the race. Of course we regret that Merijn is no longer there, but we actually didn’t talk much about it.”
Zeeman continues to exert his influence from a distance on the team that defends the yellow jersey of Primoz Roglic in the last three stages. “Merijn is no longer in the team leader’s car, but of course he is still involved with the team.”
Van Aert: ‘I’m not sure about it’
Zeeman got into an argument with a jury member after Wednesday’s stage, who wanted to check Roglic’s bike. Van Aert did not want to judge the behavior of his boss: “I don’t know the details. The story will probably have two sides.”
Van Aert is one of the contenders in the nineteenth stage on Friday, which may end in a mass sprint. Follow the ride in it liveblog.
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