Mathieu van der Poel's finger prints were all over the Tour de France stage wins of Alpecin-Deceuninck Jasper Philipsen over the last two days but the race jury has taken a dim view of his actions today in the final sprint.
The Dutch star has been relegated to last in the group for barging Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) out of his way with Philipsen on his wheel.
The barging was very hard to spot as they were about 10-12 riders from the front at the time and going into and out of the bottom of the TV screen from during the aerial footage deep into the final kilometre.
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However, while Philipsen's stage victory into Nogaro stood today, his second win in two days, Van der Poel was judged to have barged Girmay, bumping him to the left. That movement, which forced Girmay to the left, made enough space in the group so Van der Poel had room to thread his way through the riders and lead Philipsen into open road so he could pull the trigger.
Van der Poel, crossed the line in 16th, but was relegated to the back of the group - 22nd place - and was also fined 500 Swiss Francs, or about €500.
