Race officials relegated Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) from third place for deviating from his line during the chase-group sprint for second place behind solo winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, Michael Matthews has been relegated and misses out on a podium as a result. A heartbreaking end to an amazing ride," Jayco AlUla confirmed in a social media post following the race.
The chase group, which crossed the line 1:02 behind Van der Poel, caught Alberto Bettiol (EF Education–EasyPost) and Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) on the finishing straight and then sprinted for the minor podium places. Luca Mozzato (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) sprinted to second place, and Matthews took third.
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However, upon review of the sprint, officials later relegated Matthews for deviating from his line. He allegedly deviated from his line early in the sprint, moving from the far left side of the road to the far right side, which prevented Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) from passing him.
The relegation meant that fourth-place finisher Politt moved onto the podium.
According to the UCI rule 2.3.036, Riders shall be strictly forbidden to deviate from the lane they selected when launching into the sprint and, in so doing, endangering others.
Jayco AlUla director Mat Hayman later released a statement regarding the officials' decision to relegate Matthews.
"Pretty disappointed," Hayman said. "A rollercoaster of emotions there. Michael did a great final. Whether he is relegated or not, you can't... looking back at the way he raced the final, he took it on. He was on the back foot after the Koppenberg, lost a lot of spots and then came back and really gave it everything.
"He opened the sprint early to go after the second place. He was third across the line, but sadly, we have to live with the judge's decision."
Het Laatste Nieuws reported that the Australian team's appeal of the decision was unsuccessful.
In a post-race interview directly after crossing the finish line to take second place, Mozzato commented on the race officials' decision to relegate Matthews, stating, "To me, it didn't look that bad."
"In my opinion, it was the sprint, and I didn't know he was disqualified [relegated - ed.]," Mozzato said. "Sometimes, you change the direction, but I didn't get the feeling that it was that bad."
Politt revealed after the race that he was surprised to learn that he had been moved up to third place and was already on the team bus when the confirmation that Matthews had been relegated reached him.
"I was entering the bus when the call came in that I was third," Politt said. "I am super happy with this result. To be on the podium at Flanders is something special. It's my second time on the podium of a Monument after Roubaix. I'm super happy. I think we deserve it as a team, we had a super strong race, four guys up there in the first 11 [12-ed.]."
Asked if officials made the right decision in relegating Matthews, Politt said, "I have to say that I haven't seen, yet, the sprint. I can just say that I was coming with speed, and I had to brake a little bit. I have to check it. It's the decision of the commissaires, but I also feel sorry for Matthews. I'm sure it's always hard if you were on the podium and then you get relegated."
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