The news that Tom Meeusen won’t be allowed the cyclo-cross Worlds came as a big surprise. One day after the remarkable message, Meeusen has talked to the media. “I have not used that ozone therapy,” the Telenet-Fidea rider repeats.

At his training camp in Spain, Tom Meeusen was yesterday informed about his non-selection for the Worlds. Meeusen has been mentioned in an investigation into a famous “ozone doctor” which prevents him from travelling to the Czech Republic.

"My team leader Danny De Bie received a call from the federation," Meeusen tells Sporza. "We were just discussing the summer program in a relaxed atmosphere. But suddenly we got that message. That is a serious blow. Minutes before, I still believed that I would have a chance at the Worlds.”

“I didn’t see the news coming,” Meeusen says. “A journalist had tipped me that there would be a letter for me at home. But when I came home, I checked it immediately and that was not the case. I had no information.”

How did Meeusen respond to the message? "You do not know how to react to that. Tabor was the first Worlds where I had a chance to win. I believed in it, but they will give me no chance. That's hard to deal with. I do not know what to do.”

Yesterday Meeusen even considered retirement. "Cyclo-cross is about passion. I like it but if the pleasure is gone, it’s better to stop. And this thing has taken away my fun. If it stays as is, I won’t be ready mentally.”

Tom Meeusen makes it clear that he "has nothing to do with ozone therapy". "I have not used it," he says.

"I came to the doctor for a problem with my sinuses. This problem was treated well. For two years, I have not heard from him and now I ride a lot better than I did back then. That gives the correct picture that I have done nothing wrong."

Does Meeusen fear the hearing before the Disciplinary Commission of the federation? "No, but I would rather have the matter resolved at court immediately,” says the rider who also criticizes the timing of the news. "When cyclocross is in the spotlight, they come with such a story.”