Team Sky’s Gianni Moscon has been kicked off the Tour de France after punching opponent Elie Gesbert in the face mid-race Sunday.
Team Sky’s Gianni Moscon has been kicked off the Tour de France after punching opponent Elie Gesbert in the face mid-race Sunday.
Watch the altercation below:
This is notably the first year that the Tour has employed an individual to review video of the race, rather than just have someone ride on a motorcycle or in a car along with the riders to observe their behavior.
The 24-year-old issued the following apology Sunday, saying that he “totally regrets” his actions:
Moscon already had a poor reputation coming into the competition. During the 2017 Tour de Romandie, he used racial slurs in the peloton again rider Kevin Reza, and was subsequently suspended from Team Sky for six weeks. At the time, he was informed that a second incident could result in the termination of his contract with the team.
See more from the 2018 Tour de France:
He was also accused of intentionally causing opponent Sebastien Reichenbach to crash during the 2017 Tre Valli Varesine, but the case was dropped due to lack of video evidence. Additionally, he was disqualified from the 2017 World Championships after video of him getting towed by the Italian team car emerged.
The team released the following statement Sunday, leaving Moscon’s future with the team in question:
