Video: Luke Rowe and Tony Martin apologise after mid-stage spat sees both expelled from Tour de France; teams plan appeal

Haha, oops! OK, neutral in the Scottish/Andy Murray sense, anyone but Ineos*  

*and I don't even really mean that to be honest, old knee jerks die hard unfortunately.
 

Quote:

Otherwise in years to come, the win will be marred by the fact that the two men who have a chance of overtaking Julian Alaphilippe in the standings, were hamstrung by an off the road decision.

I think the only people who remember this in years to come will be the anti-French/Team Brexi-Fracking-Tax-Evasion fan boys who appear to be getting all worked up about it on other forums.

That said, as a neutral I would have preferred that both riders had stayed in the tour.

For those wondering, the jury consisted of:

Gianluca Crocetti (ITA) as jury president with Adrien Levesque (CAN), Max Michaud (FRA), Vicente Tortajada Villarroya (ESP), and Jean-Michel Voets (BEL) as jury members.

I think/hope that I've gotten the spelling of their names right.

There is video floating around of Rowe being the instigator and to which Martin responded.  There are even stills which appear to Rowe's fist connecting but they're so blurry that it's extremely hard to commit to a view on this.

But yeah, fuck France if it suits you.

Harsh, over the top punishment. Utter nonsense. Jury, ASO, UCI whatever, yet another example of rules implementation inconsistency at the Tour de Farce.

Any other punishment would have been fine, but being thrown out for this, when they'd ridden for hours in 33 degree heat just doesn't seem right. 

Blimey Miguel Angel Lopez slapped and punched a spectator at the Giro and got off scott free.

Both have riden and done their jobs fantastically this tour but I find myself torn because I think it can only improve the racing for the two best GC teams thus far to lose the riders that control the race.

Dunno if it's the right decision. It's good for us viewers though

The penaly does seem harsh and considering that out of the top four in the standings, this puts two of the none French men in a disadvantage. I would prefer to see a Frenchman win despite this penalty rather than see a Frenchman win because of the penalty.

Otherwise in years to come, the win will be marred by the fact that the two men who have a chance of overtaking Julian Alaphilippe in the standings, were hamstrung by an off the road decision.

Rowe and Martin both made a mistake, settled it on the road, with no hard feelings afterwards. It didn't impact the result of the race, nor give any advantage to their respective teams.

So we now expect to see any rider who cuts infront of another to be disqualified regardless! If you don't apply the rule evenly from here in onwards, it becomes more obvious as to the motivation behind the disqualification.

I wonder if it was the proximity to the crowds that has led to the banning. Both incidents appear to have happened less then a foot away from a specatator and could have caused a crash into the sides.  If they had been doing it in the main body of the peloton or on a quiet section I suspect the punishment would have been less severe unless the UCI are just deciding to have a crack down.

When Nacer Bouhanni has been able to get away with some of the crap that he has pulled in the past then I feel like this is probably a little bit strong. Relegate them to last on the stage and fine them but unless there's evidence of something else such as punches thrown it does seem harsh.

These are the rules. Clearly they were broken. Any race I’ve been involved with, on either side of the tape, riders would be dq for that.

1.2.079 All licence holders shall at all times be properly dressed and behave correctly in all circumstances, even when not racing. 
They shall refrain from any acts of violence, threats or insults or any other improper behaviour or from putting other persons in danger.

Right decision for me. Brambilla and Rovny got DQ'd mid stage of the vuelta for similar antics. Rowe and Martin should know better with their level of experience.

Overreaction. Is this just one those make it up as you feel like sanctions or are there any set rules with set consequences that have been broken?

I don't think it is too harsh. Deliberately dangerous riding, as Martin clearer did, and physical retaliation, as perpetrated by Rowe, should not be tolerated. It would set a bad example to do otherwise. Pull that sort of shit in a youth race and, well, you probably wouldn't be seen, but if you were you'd be kicked out too.

What’s the problem , I remember sky riders blocking other riders . This is a old tactic used by teams before . Ban the tactic or let them get on with it . 

.

.

The President of the Jury is Gianluca Crocetti. Why do you think he be biased in favour of French riders?

Love the guy in bright green doing the wanker signs

That seems harsh on both, but particularly on Luke Rowe.  I didn't see the dispute continue up the climb so it does seem like there wasn't much to it. 

I'm sure its purely coincidence that the race commissionaires decided to handicap the teams of the top two non-French GC contenders...