Tim Wellens' decision to skip the UCI Road World Championships has already been heavily debated in Belgium. The dust has still not settled, with fuel being poured on the fire by Philippe Gilbert, who has said that Wellens is "totally disconnected from reality".
The comments, coming from one of the all-time Belgian greats and a former world champion no less, are striking in their strength and directness, with Gilbert accusing Wellens of disloyalty against his country.
Wellens told national coach Serge Pauwels earlier this summer that he would not be available for selection for the Worlds road race in Montreal on September 27, where Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert represent a strong hand for the rainbow jersey.
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His initial argument was that he was ill after the Tour de France and asked UAE Team Emirates-XRG to skip the Renewi Tour, promising in exchange to absent himself from the Worlds and ride other races for his trade team, including today’s GP de Wallonie.
Wellens’ overall victory at the Tour of Britain earlier this month removed any question marks over his form and threw his decision back into the spotlight. He has since admitted to having second thoughts, especially when Evenepoel reportedly urged him to reconsider, but no real regrets: "10 years ago, I would have done anything to be in the squad. Now I am further along in my career and perhaps have different priorities."
The situation has caused controversy in Belgium and now Gilbert, who won the world title for the country in 2012, has issued a scathing assessment.
"I like Tim, but here, I am not at all on board with his position and his reasoning. He is totally disconnected from reality," Gilbert said on the Dans Le Peloton show on Walloon broadcaster RTL.
"I think you have to be loyal, first and foremost, to your nation. Employers, he has had several, and he will maybe have others before the end of his career, but your nation remains the same. So I think you have to be loyal to your nation, and here he is not, because his arguments don’t hold up."
Gilbert picked up on insinuations in the Belgian media that Wellens, also absent from last year’s Worlds, was reluctant to race against his trade team leader, Tadej Pogačar, who has now been ruled out with an injury. Wellens has not mentioned this as a reason for his absence.
"Even if Pogačar was there, it would not stop him working for a Belgian team that’s in a dream scenario, with two in-form leaders and a route that suits them. I would have dreamt of being part of that adventure,” Gilbert said.
"[His statement] makes no sense, simply. Later, he’ll realise what he’s said and he’ll say ‘that wasn’t the right decision’, because I’m not so sure that he’ll be invited back to the national team so quickly."
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