Share

Road Cycling

Did He Seriously Think He Could Get Away With This? Vincenzo Nibali DQ’d From Vuelta For Most Obvious Cheating Ever

The Tour de France 2014 champ has been kicked for cheating... but there's not a drug in sight

It’s not for doping, and it’s not because he’s been hanging around with Lance for too long, but Vincenzo Nibali has been disqualified from the Vuelta a Espana, the third and final Grand Tour of road cycling for 2015.

The low moment comes for the 2014 Tour de France champion after he was captured on camera holding onto his team car on stage two of the race.

In the video below, Nibali can be seen storming up the road before the Astana car pulls up next to him, and he either holds onto the wing mirror, window, or perhaps even a water bottle inside the car.

The Italian was nearly a minute and a half behind the pack after suffering a crash with 30km to go in the stage, when the car arrived beside him and accelerated both itself and Nibali forward.

Speaking after the decision, race jury president Bruno Valcic said: “We saw the videos. We watched the film together with Astana director Stefano Zanini.

“The penalties are really clear. The commissaries had to disqualify Nibali from the race. The sports director driving the car, Alexandre Shefer, is also out of the race.”

Elsewhere, Chris Froome lost four seconds to Nairo Quintana in his bid to become only the third person to ever win the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same season.

You May Also Like

Watch: Shocking Velodrome Crash Sends Pile of Cyclists and Bikes Flying Through Air

Watch: Cyclists Caught In A Massive Lorry Crash… And Ride Away Unscathed

Newsletter Terms & Conditions

Please enter your email so we can keep you updated with news, features and the latest offers. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. We will never sell your data and you'll only get messages from us and our partners whose products and services we think you'll enjoy.

Read our full Privacy Policy as well as Terms & Conditions.

production