Slovenia's Primoš Roglic should or could have helped Wout Van Aert more in the last few kilometers of Sunday's world championship road race as he chased down Frenchman and eventual winner Julien Alaphilippe. The question was posed to the Belgian media. The Belgian did finish in second place, but Roglic, the leader of Jumbo Visma, finished in second place at the recent Tour de France.

Roglic, who ran for the Slovenian national team rather than Van Aert's Belgian team at the world championships, had no obligation to work for Van Aert, but the Belgian press suggested that if he was too tired to try to win on his own in the last 10 km By leading Alaphilippe's chase, he could have rewarded his teammate's work in the Tour and given Van Aert a chance to become world champion.

"He (Wout) is a great champion. He's still my (Jumbo-Visma's) teammate and I hope to catch up with Alaphilippe," Roglic told Belgium's VTM Nieuws in a video clip released by Het Laatste Nieuws on Sunday night.

"But there is nothing (to add). He's a great sportsman, a great guy.

The interviewer then noted that "from a Belgian point of view, you don't seem to be working for Wout," and asked if "he was too tired."

"Yes - as I said before, I was completely at my limit - you know what I mean? He couldn't even sprint at the end."

Van Aert, who won silver medals in both the road race and time trial at the world championships in Imola, Italy, was disappointed that "Roglic couldn't do any more."

"I understand the question about Primosch, but he did everything he could. 'Of course we talked. I think he was at his limit, he had five strong riders with him and he couldn't get a second back until the last two kilometers. It was just the stronger riders that came to the front."

Former pro Eddie Plunkert, however, was particularly scathing of Roglic.

"If I were Van Aert, I wouldn't ride Roglic anymore [because of this]," the Belgian told Sporza. I would blame him a little bit after what Wout did to him at the Tour."

"Roglic should have absolutely buried himself for Van Aert. He could have gotten as close as five seconds [to Alaphilippe], and then Van Aat might have won."