Luke Rowe and Tony Martin expelled from Tour de France
Eurosport’s television commentator Carlton Kirby noted on air that the pair could be in ‘trouble’ as a result of the incident, and both have now been expelled.
Sir David Brailsford, general manager of Team Ineos, believes the verdict for the two riders is ‘harsh’ believing that a warning would have sufficed.
Brailsford told reporters: “They’ve decided to expel Tony and Luke from the race which feels incredibly harsh if I’m honest.
“It’s a pretty harsh decision and maybe a yellow card would’ve been merited but a red card for both riders appears a bit severe to me.”
Prior to the UCI jury’s decision, Rowe played down the incident and revealed that he shook hands with Martin before the stage finished.
He told reporters: “We’re both doing the same role, both doing the same job, it was nothing really. I rolled over the line with him, it’s all good, we shook hands. We just got in each other’s way.
“That’s bike racing. All good. I don’t know how many Tour de Frances you’ve ridden but it does get a bit tense at times. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to have broad shoulders and it’s no problem. We rode the last 10 kilometres of the stage talking to each other. It’s all good.”
