Two-year ban for cyclist who attacked team staff at race in China (+ video)

A cyclist filmed last Friday attacking staff members of the Switzerland team at the Tour of Hainan in China last week has been banned from professional cycling for two years.

The Chinese Cycling Association has also suspended Wang Xin’s Keyi Look team from racing until 2019, and handed bans to its manager Han Feng, doctor Zhang Ya and masseur Fan Yunlong.

Police and bystanders restrained Wang as he wielded a track pump at staff of the Switzerland team, having already punched and kicked one of them.

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Wang had crashed during Stage 7 of the race and blamed the driver of the Switzerland team car for causing him to fall of his bike.

But former pro cyclist Danilo Hondo, the team’s manager, denied that was the case.

 "We never bumped into him, you can see that from the race video," he told Eurosport.

"He simply hit the back wheel of another rider and went down. He was obviously embarrassed and took out his frustration on us.

"We tried to approach him after the race, in fact we waited 45 minutes after the finish to apologise for any misunderstandings and to show him and his team that we respect them and meant no harm.

"But both he and his team approached us with anger and everything escalated from there," he added.