Jonathan Vaughters (Garmin-Transitions) faces questions (Image credit: Daniel Benson)
Immediately after seeing a replay of the Mark Renshaw and Julian Dean clash on television, Garmin-Transitions team manager Jonathan Vaughters and directeur sportif Matt White headed to the finish area, determined to make a protest. Before they got there, the race jury had already made a decision and kicked Renshaw out of the Tour de France.
"I saw the video and I think it's a fair decision,' Vaughters told Cyclingnews.
"I would never want to see one of our riders doing that. I understand that sprints are very hotly contested and I understand it's a long hot, hard Tour but you can't do that."
Vaughters was angry how Renshaw first head-butted Dean and then also clashed with Farrar.
"It's the head-butting and then he put Tyler into the barriers after. I understand it's intense competition but we all have to respect the rules," he said.
Farrar missed out on a chance to try to win the stage because of the incident, but Vaughters was satisfied with the decision by the judges and thought that justice had been done.
"That's bike racing. Sports have their penalties and you have to abide by what they are. Mark Cavendish didn't do anything incorrect, so why would you take away the victory from Cavendish," he said.
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Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
