Opinions vary among the polemics being dished up int he aftermath of Peter Sagan's disqualification from the Tour de France for "irregular riding" when Mark Cavendish crashed at the end of stage 4 on Monday. The crash and subsequent penalty are so controversial that even an eye witness like sprinter Andre Greipel have multiple opinions.
In the finishing straight directly after the line, Greipel laid into Peter Sagan for what he perceived as the world champion's role in the crash, which saw Cavendish plow into the barriers on the right-hand side of the road and other riders go down trying to avoid him. The race jury obviously agreed with Greipel's initial opinion, levying the harshest penalty possible by kicking the Bora-Hansgrohe rider out of the race.
Several hours later, however, Greipel's opinion had changed.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Sometimes I should watch images before I say something," the German from Lotto Soudal wrote on Twitter. "Apologies to @petosagan as I think that decision of the judge is too hard."
BMC Racing manager Jim Ochowicz took a more circuitous route to deterring Sagan's action were indeed irregular.
"Remember that that group of highly experienced professional sprinters, they know every second where they are in those closing moments," Ochowicz told NBC Sports. "They know who's close to them and who's not close to them. They know each other so well that they have an obligation to ride a straight line and to keep themselves from getting in this kind of trouble, because this affects a lot of people in the bike race.
- Tour de France: Demare wins in Vittel
- Peter Sagan, Bora-Hansgrohe protest decision to disqualify rider from Tour de France
- Tour de France: Mark Cavendish pulls out after stage 4 crash
- Tour de France: Peter Sagan talks about stage 4 sprint - Video
- Bora-Hansgrohe: No comment on Sagan Tour disqualification until meeting with commissaires
- A look at previous disqualifications at the Tour de France
- Peter Sagan disqualified from Tour de France
- Tour de France: Mark Cavendish pulls out after stage 4 crash
— Andre Greipel (@AndreGreipel) July 4, 2017
— Robbie McEwen (@mcewenrobbie) July 4, 2017
— David Millar (@millarmind) July 4, 2017
— Jens Voigt (@thejensie) July 4, 2017
— Baden Cooke (@badencooke) July 4, 2017
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) July 4, 2017
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2uHKdcP
No comments:
Post a Comment