'As HTC-Columbia wound up the speed inside the final kilometre in a bid to drop rivals and deliver Cavendish to the 200 metres to go mark, his lead-out man Renshaw tried to head-butt New Zealander Julian Dean three times.
Top race official Jean-Francois Pescheux said: "Renshaw was declassified immediately but we have decided to also throw him off the race.
"We've only seen the pictures once, but his actions are plain for all to see. They were blatant. This is a bike race, not a gladiator's arena. Everyone could have crashed today."
Tyler Farrar, whose Garmin-Transitions team promised to challenge Cavendish's domination prior to the stage, had tried to sneak up the barriers on the inside of Cavendish only to have Renshaw then veer to the left to block him.
"Everything was going great. I was on Julian's wheel and he took me up to Cavendish's wheel with 300 metres to go," said
"When Cavendish launched his sprint, Renshaw veered to the left and I had to put my hand on his back to steady myself. They just don't need to race like that."
Farrar admitted Cavendish's sprint was clean, but said he was more concerned about safety issues resulting from Renshaw's tactics.' -sbs
VIDEO - Renshaw on his DQ @ SBS
http://player.sbs.com.au/tdf#/tdf_08/interviews/interviews/playlist/Renshaw-and-team-on-his-DQ
Renshaw's punishment will be for changing his line in a sprint more so then jostling (head butting) with dean. Always hold your line!!! - FS
Top race official Jean-Francois Pescheux said: "Renshaw was declassified immediately but we have decided to also throw him off the race.
"We've only seen the pictures once, but his actions are plain for all to see. They were blatant. This is a bike race, not a gladiator's arena. Everyone could have crashed today."
Tyler Farrar, whose Garmin-Transitions team promised to challenge Cavendish's domination prior to the stage, had tried to sneak up the barriers on the inside of Cavendish only to have Renshaw then veer to the left to block him.
"Everything was going great. I was on Julian's wheel and he took me up to Cavendish's wheel with 300 metres to go," said
"When Cavendish launched his sprint, Renshaw veered to the left and I had to put my hand on his back to steady myself. They just don't need to race like that."
Farrar admitted Cavendish's sprint was clean, but said he was more concerned about safety issues resulting from Renshaw's tactics.' -sbs
VIDEO - Renshaw on his DQ @ SBS
http://player.sbs.com.au/tdf#/tdf_08/interviews/interviews/playlist/Renshaw-and-team-on-his-DQ
Renshaw's punishment will be for changing his line in a sprint more so then jostling (head butting) with dean. Always hold your line!!! - FS
