Mark Renshaw's Tour Disqualification is Contentious
The reactions to Team HTC-Columbia’s Mark Renshaw’s disqualification from the 2010 Tour de France have been plentiful and contentious. Some saw clear breach of the Tour’s rules and a justified expulsion, while others saw a diffuse and arbitrary set of rules.
It was during Stage 11’s sprint finish on Thursday that Renshaw, in an attempt to set up his teammate Mark Cavendish for a sprint to claim the stage victory, was judged to have head-butted and obstructed Team Garmin-Transitions’ Julian Dean.
Aided by Renshaw’s obstructions, Cavendish went on to claim his third stage win in this year’s Tour. Dean, on the other hand, finished in 160th place.
Upon reviewing video footage of the incident after the stage, the Tour jury decided to disqualify Renshaw immediately.
"The case of the HTC-Columbia rider was a bad case and we cannot tolerate that,” said jury member Pierre Curchod to Cyclingnews.
“So we need to send him home. We are not happy with that, but we need to do that because it's our role. It's a big penalty,” he added.
"I can understand the team because they have to do all they can do get their rider in. That's their job. Our job is not always easy but we had to take a decision and this was the best decision we could take," said Curchod.
Unjust Treatment?
For Team HTC-Columbia, the decision comes as a great disappointment, as Renshaw is one of its strongest supporting riders.
Its star sprinter Cavendish was particularly irritated in the light of the penalty he received during the 2009 Tour: "It's always us, isn't it?”
Last year, Cavendish was judged to have obstructed Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd during Stage 14. Cavendish only received a fine and a points deduction, but the jury’s decision saw him lose the overall points classification victory to Hushovd.
"Last year Mark Cavendish lost his chance to win the green jersey for moving 50cm off his line but it was less than Julian Dean did today," said team manager Rolf Aldag after the stage.
After the decision was announced, HTC-Columbia’s team manager Aldag made an attempt to convince the judges to reverse their decision by visiting the UCI headquarters.
Clearly frustrated with the judges’ refusal to change their minds, Aldag attributed the disqualification to a case of “old guys making a bad decision” before walking away.
Bob Stapleton, the team’s owner, also felt the decision was too harsh on Renshaw. "I think this is a hard sport, with hard men in it," he said to Cyclingnews.
"You've got to fight and hold your position, that's the safest thing to do. They're sprinting down this road at 70km/h and guys are colliding. I wouldn't be quick to point blame. I didn't see anything that was obviously unsafe. It didn't look pretty but he had his hands firmly on his bars and was holding his position. I think that's what you're supposed to do," Stapleton added.
Jury Stick with Decision
Race director Jean-François Pescheux, on the other hand, remained adamant that the jury had made the correct decision.
"There are multiple infringements: headbutts, which are unacceptable in the Tour de France, to keep the other riders from passing,” Pescheux told Cyclingnews of the video images the jury had consulted.
“After setting up Cavendish he's forcing the riders who finished second and third to the barriers. These are flagrant infringements and the jury decided right away to declassify him and later also to put him out of the race," added Pescheux.
Having lost one of his best supporting riders, Cavendish may find it difficult to claim more stage wins in the remaining 2 or 3 sprint stages. But the Briton, who won six stages in last year’s Tour, is unlikely to stop trying.
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