Movistar rider Jose Joaquin Rojas was handed a three-minute penalty at the Tour of Catalonia yesterday and had the leader’s jersey taken away from him after he was spotted on TV giving an illegal push to team mates during the Stage 2 team time trial. This morning, the UCI stripped Movistar of the stage win and handed it instead to BMC Racing, with Ben Hermans becoming race leader.
What do you think about the 3″, 2″, 1″ of penalty for Rojas, Amador & Oliveira (Movistar) because of this action? pic.twitter.com/tg219iTull
— Laura Meseguer (@Laura_Meseguer) March 21, 2017
The penalty imposed on the Spaniard meant that the race lead instead initially passed to his team mate Alejandro Valverde, with Movistar winning yesterday’s test against the clock by 2 seconds from BMC Racing, which had complained about Rojas’s behaviour.
But this morning, the UCI confirmed that the stage win had been awarded to BMC Racing, with Ben Hermans replacing Valverde as race leader.
.@UCI_cycling has confirmed that @BMCProTeam are now the winners of #VoltaCatalunya TTT + @hermansben has the leader’s jersey. @TDWsport pic.twitter.com/IHaAmIHLsX
— BMC Racing Team (@BMCProTeam) March 22, 2017
Trek-Segafredo also lodged a complaint, with the race jury agreeing that Rojas had indeed broken the rules – but not before the 31-year-old had been given the leader’s jersey on the podium.
Ernesto Maggioni, president of the commissaires at the race, said: “We have seen the pictures on the TV and they show clearly that Rojas pushes the other riders, which is forbidden during a race.
“Every time he pushes, he gets a minute’s penalty and a fine.
“Rojas was pushing. He was the last in the line and his team-mates are dropping back and he pushes them to take his place in the line because he was on the edge. That is forbidden.”
Two team mates who received assistance from Rojas on the uphill stretch of road in the closing minutes of Movistar’s ride on the 41.5km coiurse were also docked time, with Andrei Amador losing 2 minutes and Nelson Oliveira 1 minute.
14 thoughts on “Updated: Movistar stripped of stage win, Rojas loses leader’s jersey in Catalonia after illegally pushing team mates in time trial”
Is that it? I thought he was
Is that it? I thought he was pushing them for hundred of yards because they were falling behind. He was just riding rear shot gun and letting them know where he was. Why isnt that allowed in a team time trial, the clue is in team? Get the least number of riders over the line in the fastest time.
CXR94Di2 wrote:
I don’t the rules but totally agree with CXR94Di2^
I do think that was a bit
I do think that was a bit harsh, I was expecting full on pushing along, that seemed to just be letting them know he was the last man and to slot in front of him, fair enough if commissaires are going to start getting extra strict with the rules, but this seems like less of an advantage than the average sticky bottle in a normal stage.
RobD wrote:
That he was saying get in front rather than go behind him and possibly drop off. A guiding hand rather than any kind of assistance. Looked more like he was keeping his team together.
But isn’t it the little
But isn’t it the little things about a well drilled team that make the difference in a team time trial?
Maybe the other teams didn’t need to give one another a wee shove at the back because they were better drilled and new how/when/where to slot in behind. If Rojas hadn’t done that then the Movistar line might have broken or the riders might have tired themselves more to get back on, to the detriment of the team’s time.
Still seems harsh, but if the other teams posted good times without breaking the rules then I guess they have the right to complain…
I hope that Movistar and
I hope that Movistar and other teams put in a complaint about BMC and Trek every time one of their riders is seen taking a bidon from a team car.
Personally speaking, I don’t
Personally speaking, I don’t understand why this isn’t allowed… why isn’t pushing your team mates OK? Team mates do everything else for their leaders, it seems strange that this should be banned.
I like the idea of a rear gunner in a TT. its hard getting on the back of the line in a TTT, and when you get there you also have to deal with the drag at the end of the line. You don’t get the full drafting benefit until the next guy comes around.
Having a rider dedicated to helping people back into the line and taking the drag would be great.
Whats the problem with utilising one of your riders for this purpose.
It isn’t allowed because that
It isn’t allowed because that small push helps one of the most difficult parts of a TTT – the part where you drop back after taking your turn, then have to work hard to get up to the speed of the final rider. As it is a TTT, if you can minimise these short, but very intense efforts, then the whole team will be faster as a result. Whether it should be allowed is a moot point. The rules say it isn’t.
As for comments on Bidons, it is unlikely any team will complain about something that they all do. It is about an unfair advantage. Bidons from cars rarely are used for an unfair advantage. When they are, these are also punished (Bardet recently with the team mechanic). But if it is a convention of a rule which is both respected and the contravention is so obvious, the UCI have to act.
rtw wrote:
I agree, a little push by a rear gunner at the most crucial time once twice three times… it’s different and it obviously worked as they kept together as a team, they had more engines for the pull and very unusually came over the line with every one of their team mates… if i were on another team I’d complain.
Is this all? Little nudges
Is this all? Little nudges like this a quite common in TTT’s – from all teams.
I suspect that you would not have to go back through many events to find the BMC and trek teams doing similar.
Did the UCI comment on why it
Did the UCI comment on why it imposed this 1,2 and 3 minute penalty on the individuals giving/receiving the push(es), rather than the 1 minute on every TTT rider in the team, that the rules state?
Velonews had interesting article on the potential benefits of small push tactics in TTT, where only pusher/pushee are punished.
MandaiMetric wrote:
Exactly this – so they’ve stripped them of the stage but riders (e.g. Valverde) still have the time which was obtained by cheating?!
I guess the local organisers don’t want to penalise too much!
Let’s hope he doesn’t win the overall by 2 seconds!
No comparison to things like ‘sticky bottles’, or pushes for the odd rider etc in a general stage. This is a TTT without a peleton, where the time gaps are a matter of seconds, and the time is shared across the team members including the GC contenders!
Looks like the UCI
Looks like the UCI reconsidered the penalty overnight and have now docked every Movistar rider 1 minute each, from their original TTT time.
They are also pegging it
They are also pegging it downhill, how much force do they think he was using?