Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) was disqualified from Paris-Roubaix after taking a tow from his workforce automotive following a mechanical drawback.
The younger British rider was an outsider for a prime inserting at Paris-Roubaix after impressing at Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders. However, his race ended with 130km to go when he was formally disqualified by race commissaires and advised to drop again from the peloton.
Tarling was a part of the choose 30-rider entrance group which shaped after Alpecin-Deceuninck compelled the tempo for reigning champion and race favorite Mathieu van der Poel with 150km to go.
He then had a motorbike drawback and misplaced contact with the group on the uncovered roads. He was quickly in a position to chase however was then seen taking a sticky bottle tow at excessive velocity
from his Ineos Grenadiers workforce automotive by a bike official and on tv.
The tow solely lasted a couple of seconds however clearly included an acceleration from the workforce earlier than he dived into the slipstream
The bike commissaire and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) shortly intervened to disqualify Tarling after seeing the incident, which was caught dwell on tv.
He was advised he was out of the race by way of workforce radio and step by step dropped again earlier than talking to the chief race commissaire within the pink automotive following the peloton. After failing to argue his case, European time trial champion Tarling then angrily waved away a tv bike that was forward of him.
Tarling was later disqualified from the official outcomes, fined 500 Swiss francs and docked 100 UCI rating factors. Directeur sportif Christian Knees was additionally fined 500 Swiss francs.
The Ineos Grenadiers directeur sportifs held a debrief post-race with new Performance supervisor Scott Drawer. Tom Pidcock’s seventeenth place was outcome, however Tarling’s disqualification forged a shadow on their race.
Tarling didn’t discuss after the race, however Ian Stannard confronted as much as questions in regards to the incident from Cyclingnews and GCN. The former professional rider hinted that the punishment was maybe harsh and lacked consistency, particularly in a busy race like Paris-Roubaix. Other riders, little question, maybe took benefit of comparable tows through the race however maybe not so near the entrance group.
“It’s a call that was made out on the street, and it’s performed,” Stannard stated.
He wouldn’t reveal who supplied Tarling a sticky bottle or say if it was proper that Tarling was disqualified.
“It’s a racing circumstance. He had a motorbike change, and it’s what it’s. At the top of the day the commissaires made the choice and that’s it.”
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