Tinkoff’s Matteo Tosatto has revealed he has given written evidence to the Italian Cycling Federation as part of an investigation into claims that Arnaud Demare (FDJ) took a tow from a team car following a crash before going on to win this year’s Milan-San Remo.
Tosatto is in action at the Giro d’Italia –riding the 33rd Grand Tour of his long career as a domestique, as is Demare, who finished second behind Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quickstep) in the Giro d’Italia sprint in Nijmegen. As La Gazzetta dello Sport revealed, the Tinkoff and FDJ buses were parked facing each other but relations between the two teams are tense after the polemic following the first Classic of the season.
Immediately after Milan-San Remo, Tosatto pointed the finger at the Frenchman and his team, telling La Gazzetta dello Sport: "Demare was off the back before the Cipressa. Then on the climb he passed us going twice our speed. I didn't see if he was on the car window or with a (sticky) bottle. Of course he was strong in the sprint but without that tow he would never have made it to contest the sprint. I've never seen a thing like that done so shamelessly."
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His accusations were confirmed by fellow Italian Eros Capecchi (Astana), who said: “I was on Tosatto's wheel and saw it very clearly. Demare was hanging onto the right of the team car. It’s disgusting!"
The accusation soured Demare’s victory but the French sprinter denied any wrong doing and claimed his power data proved his case.
The polemic seemed to be closed but La Gazzetta dello Sport spoke to Tosatto on Saturday, who revealed news of the Italian Federation investigation. It is not know if the investigation has reached a conclusion or if Demare will be questioned when he travels to Italy with the Giro d’Italia.
“I’m not interested in fuelling the polemic any further, I’ve nothing personal against him and he’s definitely a great rider,” Tosatto said.
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