Nils Ehoff described himself as "devastated" and "out of his mind" after being disqualified after finishing first in the U23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships.

The Dutch rider raised his arms in Harrogate, but was disqualified about an hour later for drafting behind a team car early in the race.

After a trip to the UCI video referee car, he returned to the tent behind the podium. He ran through the media mix zone with tears streaming down his face and back to the Dutch team hotel.

A short time later, Eickhoff came down from his room to react to Cycling News and two Belgian journalists.

"I feel devastated. I don't really know what I'm feeling right now. ...... I'm going crazy."

"It's hard. I don't know what I can do right now. My management is looking at options. It feels a little unfair to me."

Eekhoff crashed with less than 130km remaining in the race, dislocating his shoulder and breaking his bike. According to the Dutchman's coach, he spent more than two minutes behind the team car in order to rejoin the pack.

"I fell and dislocated my shoulder and got my bike back, but it took a long time because I had some mechanical symptoms.

"At the moment I fell, I still had 125 km left. The race was still on. In my opinion, I fought for it. After the fall, they should have put me back in the caravan. I had no idea that I was taking a risk."

Ehoff was later overjoyed at the finish and gave a UCI interview in front of the podium, but his joy quickly turned to anxiety.

"After 15 or 20 minutes I was told I had to get into the car for the jury. At first I didn't know what was going on. Nobody told me anything, so I started to get a little nervous," he said.

"They showed me a video and told me that no decision had been made yet. Then I went back to the tent and Pidcock was already there, so I was like, 'OK. Then a minute later they told me I was disqualified because of the cycling image."

Asked how he felt at that moment, Eickhoff replied, his voice shaking: "I started crying. I felt helpless. I had no idea what I could do."

[26 [They left me in the tent. They left and I sat there. I just wanted to go home.

It would obviously take a long time for Eekhoff to absorb such disappointment. He and his management representatives, SEG Cycling, have made it clear that they are considering action to challenge the UCI's decision.

"They are considering their options. I don't know what they can do. I talked to them and they [UCI] don't think they [UCI] can do it this way. We'll see. We will have to hear from them later."

"I think the national federations then went to the review committee. The federation is not going to do anything, but still my management is going to consider all options."

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Asked if he received support from fellow riders, he replied: "From my teammates. They were thinking of me. I haven't looked at social media yet. I can't handle it yet."