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Ellen van Dijk under fire for harsh words about Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig

Dutchwoman made some harsh remarks about Danish champ

World champion Ellen van Dijk may be off the bike for her maternity leave, but she’s still in the news for her latest comments about Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.

She recently spoke on the cycling podcast Wegkletsen along with Roxane Knetemann and they both had some tough words for the current Danish national champion. “I find her to be such an annoying rider. She’s always yelling or whining. I was good at that myself, but with her there is always such a fuss about it,” Knetemann said.

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“Nobody likes her”

“She is a rider who never catches gets her face in the wind, she is  always sitting on, always waiting. People think she’s fantastic in the media, but not in the pack. Nobody likes her,” van Dijk said.

Sassing people (or bikes) seems to be a regular thing these days on podcasts. Tom Boonen came under fire for criticizing the Colnago brand, and quickly apologized. Boonen, along with Eddy Merckx, were vocal about Wout van Aert’s victory gift to Christophe Laport at Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields.

Denmark is not amused

Given Ludwig’s enormous popularity in her home country of Denmark, Van Dijk received quite a bit of clap back from her fans. She went back on the podcast and apologized for her comments.

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“I received a lot of negative feedback from Denmark and I must say that I understand the anger of these people. I think I went too far and said things I shouldn’t have said. I regret all that and I want to say undskyld,” said the Dutchwoman. (Undskyld is Danish for sorry.)

The current hour record holder also said the Dane is already quite aware of her feelings.

“She knows very well that I am not a fan of her as a cyclist, as we regularly fight during the races,” van Dijk added.