Warren Barguil has been disqualified from Paris-Nice after stage 1 for taking a draft from a team car after he crashed.
The French champion came down hard in wet conditions and he looked for a time like he may not remount and make it to the finish of the stage.
However, he gathered himself and got back on his bike and back into action, after a period behind the team car.
His fall with 65km to go was a dramatic one as after he got going again he soon stopped, apparently to abandon.
When the TV moto stayed with him to see what he was doing, Barguil protested before eventually getting back on the bike and continuing.
The fall clearly took a lot out of Barguil and on a day when the racing really split to pieces in rainy conditions with crosswinds, the Team Arkéa Samsic ride limped home in fourth last place some 15 minutes down.
Advertisement
It was a disastrous day out for him, made even worse when it emerged after the stage he had been disqualified for drafting.
Related News
As well as being disqualified, Barguil was also fined 200
Swiss Francs and team directeur Yvon Caer was fined 500 Francs.
Caer was found not to have obeyed the instructions of the commissaires and he will be last car on the road tomorrow as part of his penalty.
The 154km opening stage into Plaisir
was won, in a sprint from a four-man breakaway, by Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe).
Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-McLaren)
was 2nd with Tiesj Benoot (Team
Sunweb) in 3rd and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick Step) in 4th place.
Topics
