Should Bouwman be wary of Schmid? Mountain King got no response from future teammate after Van Aert’s message
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Follow us on GoogleKoen Bouwman made a controversial transfer this winter. After spending numerous years serving Visma | Lease a Bike and predecessors, the Dutch rider moved to
Jayco AlUla.
There, he will bump into a rider with whom he quarreled in the past: Mauro Schmid. In the 2022 Giro, both men were at the front in the full finale of the nineteenth stage. Bouwman won, but Schmid stayed behind and became angry with the Dutch rider.
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In the podcast De Rode Lantaarn, Bouwman looked back on that moment. The blond climber made a sudden sharp move that day in the final turn, only a hundred meters before the finish. Consequence: Everyone steered straight ahead except Bouwman, who won the stage. It took quite a while for the jury to approve the winner's move and declare him the stage winner for the day. Bouwman apologized to Schmid but couldn't do anything about it for several reasons.
Read more below the photo.
Bouman won the Settimana Coppi e Bartali this year.
Bouwman screwed up: I said, "your win will come"
"I started too late," Bouwman remembers. "I thought: wait, wait, wait. I cut that corner very sharply, yes." In the evening, Wout van Aert immediately sent: "I'm proud of you, that was a nice corner, bro. That's how a cyclo-cross rider would do it, too." Yet the winner of the mountain jersey that year also felt the need to encourage Schmid, who was "cut off in his wheel."
"I sent him a message in the evening. I asked for his number and wrote that I wasn't going to apologize but that I was sorry that that corner was in the middle of the sprint. I would have preferred to sprint in a straight line. I closed with the words, 'That big win will still come for him,'" Bouwman concluded, not knowing that Schmid had already won a stage in the 2021 Giro and was already a big man.
Bouwman was put back into place by Pascal Eenkhoorn, who was more in tune with the facts than his teammate. "Stupid, he won a stage in the Giro d'Italia last year." Little did I know, haha. Still had to apologize for not knowing that. He didn't send a message back. When I saw him in the race the day after, he indicated he didn't want to talk to me anymore. "Oh well, we're grown-ups; I'm sure it will work out," said Bouwman, who will go to training camp with Schmid on Sunday and have some explaining to do then...
Below the stage in question.
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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
- I’m still learning how cyclocross works—does leading the Superprestige mean Mason is top of that race series, rather than the World Cup? Either way, winning in Belgium sounds like a massive result.cadencekingm13-11-2026
- Calling Onley a contender for an overall Tour win already feels a bit premature, especially after the injury setbacks. Still, the depth of talent is exciting.robert6513-11-2026
- Great to see Dickson’s route from triathlon to the WorldTour getting recognition. Scottish cycling has plenty to be proud of, and the 2027 Grand Départ could give the next generation a real lift.patriciaw13-11-2026
- The article makes a good case for clubs and small teams doing the groundwork, rather than one big development pipeline. Thornley’s Vuelta time trials were seriously impressive too; missing a stage win by two seconds is brutal.davidm13-11-2026
- Mason winning in Niel is huge—beating that kind of Belgian field in the mud takes serious class. The Kelvingrove World Cup could be an unforgettable homecoming.breakawaybikerd13-11-2026
- I’m not sure how WorldTour licences work—could these reports affect whether the team gets one next year, or is that decision based on other criteria?velodromevirtuoso113-11-2026
- Pointing to three former riders doesn’t settle what nearly 100 people have reportedly shared. Hopefully the review looks at the team’s systems and culture, not just whose version of events sounds more convincing.julien13-11-2026
- Eight questions or 23? That’s a pretty significant difference in the accounts, and it’d be useful to know exactly what was sent and when.robert6513-11-2026
- Kittel’s position sounds more nuanced than Spekenbrink suggests: he didn’t endorse the “culture of fear” label, but still called for the team to be looked at critically. That distinction matters.bikebuffj13-11-2026
- The independent investigation is the important bit now. It needs to give current staff a safe way to speak honestly, not just become another round of public statements.michael5413-11-2026