UCI race officials have relegated Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) and Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) from the top five to the back of the bunch following the stage 12 sprint into Villeneuve-sur-Lot at Tour de France.
Démare crossed the line in third place behind stage winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and runner-up Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) but was later relegated to the back of the main field in 67th place, and so Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) moved up to third place.
Cavendish, who celebrated his record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win on stage 5, was also among the top sprinters racing to the line on stage 12. He initially crossed the finish line in fifth place but was later relegated to 68th place.
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Video footage of the sprint showed Démare squeeze Van Aert towards the barriers on the right side of the road in the final metres of the race.
Cavendish was also punished for changing lines from the middle of the road to the left in the closing few hundred metres as he tried to avoid Démare's lead-out man Daniel McLay, who slowed down in the middle of the road.
Tour de France organiser ASO announced the decision a few minutes after following, with an official communique later explaining that the two sprinters were relegated for "Deviation from the chosen line that obstructs or endangers another rider or irregular sprint.'
They were both also fined 500 Swiss Francs and docked 13 points in the green jersey points classification.
Astana Qazaqstan director Mark Renshaw explained the reason given for Cavendish's relegation, noting that Cavendish was upset about the decision and felt that it was unfair.
"We are obviously very disappointed, in that sprint, we think it was a solid, earned fifth place from Cavendish today. There were two decisions in the commisseries panel that was taken. One of them affects us, and Cavendish is really upset with this decision, as I am, as the team because we thought it was a hard-fought place, and there are many reasons why for that sprint," Renshaw said in an interview with ITV Cycling.
Renshaw went on to dissect the final sprint, saying that Cavendish was forced to deviate from his line as a reaction to Démare's Arkéa-B&B Hotels lead-out rider McLay, who had stopped pedalling once he had finished his lead-out.
"If we really analyse this move and break down this 50 metres, we can see that McLay is leading out Démare. If you stack it up against the white line you can see that he is parallel about .8 of a metre to the right of the white line. He finishes his lead-out, and he moves to the left. My estimate is about 1.5 metres; he moves to the left and stops pedalling.
"I'm sure Thierry Gouvenou [race director] said at the first meeting of the day, 'if you're a lead-out man and you stop pedalling, please keep pedalling.' So, I think this move by McLay, who completely stops pedalling, he probably deserves more of a sanction than Cavendish deserves. Especially I [know], as a lead-out man, if you stop pedalling in a sprint like this, there will be a reaction. The reaction to that move by McLay stopping pedalling was Cavendish deviating to the left, also with [Bryan] Coquard hard on the wheel. I think with both riders, Cav and Coquard committed to jumping to the left. So, you've got a rider like McLay, who stops pedalling at 70km/h, Cav in the same moment, has already committed to jumping to the left, and that's the reaction from that action.
"He's really upset and angry about the decision because he believes it was unfair, and that was an action from McLay coming back."
Démare, who lost his podium place on the day, thanked his teammates and said that he would prefer to stay positive and look ahead to future sprint opportunities.
"I just want to stay positive and the sprint I did today, thanks to the excellent work of my entire team, and especially Dan McLay. I launch from afar, that's what I like, and I believed in victory. "It's good for morale, today we found our marks all together," Démare said.
"What happened to me motivates me even more for the next stages that could end in a sprint on this Tour de France. A great dynamic has been established within the Arkea-B&B Hotels team. We will continue in this direction and do everything to continue to shine."
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