Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) has been relegated for her sprint on stage 1 of the Eneco Tour, after her actions left Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech), the rider she hampered in the final 150 metres, furious at the finish line on Wednesday.
Kool was the favourite for the flat stage in Ede, and was well placed on the wheel of the Italian rider coming out of the final corner. As Guarischi launched her sprint in the middle of the road, Kool began to launch on her left, only for the Italian rider to close her to the barrier, causing the Dutch rider to take evasive action and restart her sprint on the other side.
By the time she was back up to speed, Kool had already lost the stage to Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarché), turning back and throwing her hand in the air at Guarischi for her actions in the sprint. Kool didn't mince her words when she spoke after the stage.
Latest Videos FromCyclingnews
"I'm just really bummed that as a team we're sacrificing everything to let it come down to a sprint; you just want a fair chance," said Kool to Dutch publication WielerFlits.
"I think that fair chance has been taken away from me now. I find that very unsportsmanlike and very unfortunate.
"I haven't seen it back yet, but in my view, I was deliberately and intentionally pushed into the barriers. It wasn't just a little bit of a deviation from the line; it went from right to left. So yes, I find that very unsportsmanlike.
"Everyone knows images from the past. That goes through your head. I really want to win, but not that much. And I also know that she won't give up easily, because she didn't do that to begin with."
The official results initially showed no consequences for Guarischi's sprint, but a post on AG Insurance Soudal's social media pages later on Wednesday evening confirmed that the Italian had been relegated, putting her at the back of the bunch in 85th.
"Nicola Steigenga has been promoted to third place in the final race classification of the first stage, following a race incident and the subsequent disqualification of the rider initially classified in third place," read a post from AG Insurance Soudal.
While the results page on the Eneco Tour's website has, at the time of writing, not been updated with the relegation for Guarischi, it is likely she was deemed to have broken rule 2.3.036 of the UCI regulations: "Riders shall be strictly forbidden to deviate from the lane they selected when launching into the sprint and, in so doing, obstructing or endangering others."
