‘Feelings running high’ – Rider disqualified after headbutt causes crash during Giro d’Italia
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The incident involving the Italian and the Brit knocked the latter off his bike and caused a crash during Sunday’s stage with riders behind Donaldson scrambling to avoid colliding with the 24-year-old.
“Feelings running high, I’m going to leave it at that,” Carlton Kirby said on commentary of the 157km stage from Voghera to Milan.
And shortly after the coming together, Brian Smith added: “In fact, that was a headbutt there.”
“Goodness me, was it?” Kirby enquired, to which Smith continued: “That rider will be sanctioned.”
Indeed, Zanoncello was expelled from the race after the stage.
The violent incident came after Zanoncello had made first contact with a Groupama-FDJ rider before turning his attention to Donaldson as the peloton was sprinting for minor placings.
Highlights: Dversnes secures stunning victory in Stage 15 of Giro d’Italia
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And after race organisers reviewed the overhead footage, Zanoncello’s punishment was revealed.
As well as being disqualified following the race, the 28-year-old was handed a 1,000 Swiss Franc (£947) fine and an official yellow card.
The stage was won by Uno-X Mobility rider Fredrik Dversnes, while Italian duo Mirco Maestri (Polti Visitmalta) and Martin Marcellusi, a team-mate of Zanoncello, came second and third respectively.
‘The circuit was dangerous’
Dversnes’ victory came after the final lap in Milan was neutralised for GC contenders following complaints from riders.
Race leader Jonas Vingegaard was among those to voice concerns about the “dangerous” finish in Milan and was heard complaining to race organisers that he almost crashed.
The Dane’s worries did not fall on deaf ears as Vingegaard said after the race that he was “happy” to have been listened to.
”Maybe today was not the most safe roads, so to speak, but we tried to speak with the organisation and they really listened to us, so I want to thank them for listening to what we had to say today,” he said.
Vinggegaard’s sports director Marc Reef confirmed that many in the peloton felt the roads were dangerous.
He said: “What we could do at that moment was just bring to the riders the information that we got from the commisaires. I think it was clear communication.
“The riders especially in the bunch thought the lap was too dangerous, fences placed on the road, props on the cobbled sections, rails were quite high, there were some places and spots in the parcours that was quite dangerous especially with the high speed on the lap, Ganna went once to the car, Jonas and also Ciccone. They felt responsible, in the end the stewards listened and we’re grateful.
“[Beforehand] You know there are some cobble lines in the road, the rails are in the road but how they place the fences and how the drops were on the parcour, you can’t see that on the information that you get up front and I think that is also something you then need to be flexible about and I think that’s what they did. The riders spoke about their concerns on the bike because they need to do it and then the decision was there.”
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