Matt Holmes tweeted this picture after today's stage of the An Post Rás and it's quite clear the finishing line blew up and disrupted his sprint. He was forced to brake which meant he was gapped by those around him on GC and he slipped to seventh overall as a result.
By Brian Canty
Top British rider Matt Holmes has pleaded with the UCI commissaires at the An Post Rás for leniency after he lost one vital second while coming to the line in Baltinglass this afternoon.
The Madison Genesis man started the day second overall at two seconds but tied on time with Damien Shaw (An Post ChainReaction) in third.
Holmes missed the break that contested the stage win this afternoon, but he was in the same group as Shaw and most of the other riders populating the top of the overall standings.
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However, as he came to the line, a gust of wind pulled the finishing line off the road, meaning he had to brake suddenly to miss it.
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The commissaires ruled a gap had appeared between him and the rider in front and accordingly, Holmes dropped to seventh overall and he believes he should be given the same time as Shaw.
If he did get that time, he would be fifth overall instead of seventh.
He came to the line in a group of 17 men, with stage 1 winner Taco van der Hoorn (Netherlands Join-S De Rijke) leading them home.
But when a gap of one second appeared between Holmes and Shaw who was the rider just ahead of him, the Briton was given a finishing time of his own.
And because the group was stretched out coming over the line, he was judged to be four seconds behind van der Hoorn and so lost four seconds on Shaw and everyone else in the group.
“How did I end up seventh? I didn't see any gaps at the finish!? The line wasn't even on the floor when I finished!,” Holmes tweeted afterwards.
“I had to brake because this was the finish line as I crossed it. Surely I can't lose time for that!”
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