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Warren Barguil was disqualified from Paris-Nice at the end of the first stage, Sunday at Plaisir, for staying in the wake of his team vehicle Arkea-Samsic.
Warren Barguil is no longer in the race at Paris-Nice. The Breton racer from Arkéa-Samsic was excluded from the race by the jury of the marshals, Sunday at the end of the first stage, for “taking wake of the vehicle of his sporting director”, Yvon Caër.
The champion of France also received a fine of 200 Swiss francs (189 euros), his sports director Yvon Caer of 500 Swiss francs (472 euros).
Barguil was delayed in this stage by a fall which affected three other runners (Bardet, Turgis, McLay) about sixty kilometers from the finish. The Breton joined the finish in a group that was close to a quarter of an hour behind the winner, the German Max Schachmann.
Barguil: “I accept the decision of the commissioners”
“I accept the decision of the commissioners to exclude me from Paris-Nice, even if it hurts all my preparation for the start of the season. I didn’t want to do wrong, nor did my sports director. I was just groggy after my fall. “
The general manager of Arkéa-Samsic training, Emmanuel Hubert, also took note of the decision of the jury of commissioners. Of course, we accept it. The rules and laws are there to be applied, after there is also sometimes the spirit, moreover if Warren found himself in this contentious situation for the referees of our sport, this is linked to the fact that he was groggy after his fall and did not yet know what decision to make: continue or abandon Paris-Nice. He thus drove for a few kilometers, sheltered by the sports director who raised him at the edge of a roundabout after his fall, without having the will to go against the rules laid down or to cheat. “
The same misadventure happened three years ago, still in the first stage of Paris-Nice, to Romain Bardet.
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