Praised Rickaert vomited five times after epic duo effort and was frustrated by van der Poel's comment: "He said it on the bus"

If they had both made it to the finish, Rickaert would have won. But the 31-year-old Belgian was so exhausted that he had to let Van der Poel go six kilometers from the finish line. That was no easy decision; he had no energy left in him. “The massage did me good, and it was necessary. Apparently, my stomach couldn't handle the effort. I vomited five times. My clothes were a mess after the finish, but it was worth it.”

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The values were incredible; Rickaert also realized this after traveling more than 160 kilometers at full speed with an average speed of almost 50 km/h. “From kilometer 0 until Mathieu dropped me, I rode at an average of 386 watts, which is massive for me.” However, when he heard that van der Poel had just fallen short, he was a little disappointed. “In hindsight, I should have kept going because if we had stayed in front, Mathieu would have let me win.”

Rickaert's body told the whole story, but what if he had pushed himself even harder and reached the finish line alongside van der Poel? The Dutchman's comment had clearly made an impression. A stage victory would have been even better than just the prize for the most combative rider. “That wasn't agreed, but he told me on the bus if only he'd said that ten kilometers earlier,” he laughed.