Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny) has questioned the result at Grote Prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré (1.1) yesterday when he was involved in a very tight photo finish with Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) after 198.6km of racing.
Thijssen, a rapidly emerging sprinter from Belgium, was awarded the victory from Ewan, though there was very little to separate them. Initially it seemed Ewan had won and he was even interviewed on TV as the race winner after the event.
However, moments later it became clear that Thijssen had been awarded the win. When the overhead shot of the two riders lunging for the line emerged, it appeared to show Thijssen had indeed won. However, a closer look shows Ewan's back wheel and his brake hoods were marginally ahead of Thijssen's when they hit the line.
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Because Thijssen and Ewan have very different sprinting styles, the overhead shot is deceptive. In the lunge, Ewan pushes the bars so far forward most of his body is hanging over the back of the bike. But Thijssen is more hunched over, with his head and torso much further forward on the bike.
It means that riders' body positions relative to their bikes are very different during the lunge. But if you look past that, Ewan's brake hoods and his rear wheel both appear to show he won, as do the finish line photos the Australian shared, below.
Sharing those images Ewan said "I kinda think I won. Thoughts?" followed by "Here’s another one (finish line photo). If anyone’s got photo of big G clearly beating me it would actually make me feel a bit better to be honest."
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Whatever the outcome, the lack of very good quality images - to show cycling fans so there is no doubt about the winner - has become an issue in recent weeks and is threatening to undermine confidence in the UCI, especially its finish line technology.
