Jake Stewart says Nacer Bouhanni ‘has no brain cells’ after being forced into barriers in sprint

Updated 28/03/2021 at 18:40 GMT

Elia Viviani triumphed at Cholet-Pays de la Loire on Sunday, but the major talking point occurred just behind the Italian as Nacer Bouhanni almost caused a horrible crash in the sprint finish. The Frenchman, who was disqualified, forced Jake Stewart into the barriers, with the Briton taking to social media to slam his rival after the race.

Highlights as 'totally out of order' Bouhanni disqualified for scary near-miss

Jake Stewart (Groupama–FDJ) has slammed Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea–Samsic) for almost causing a huge crash in the finale of the one-day Cholet-Pays de la Loire race on Sunday.

Stewart and Bouhanni were contesting the final sprint when the Frenchman swung into his rival’s path, with the Brit somehow staying upright despite being forced into the barriers.

Bouhanni was disqualified for the incident but Stewart was furious, taking to social media afterwards to shame him.

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“Yo Nacer Bouhanni. I would ask you what you was thinking... but you clearly have no brain cells,” Stewart wrote on Twitter, including a clip of the near-miss.

“The ironic thing is you told me I had 'no respect' after the finish. Here's an educational video of what 'no respect' looks like...”

Stewart rolled home in 29th after surrendering a sprint which had looked so promising as he hugged the back wheel of eventual winner Elia Viviani (Cofidis).

Fellow pro rider Mihkel Raim (Mazowsze–Serce) has called for Bouhanni to be suspended for the incident.

Dylan Groenewegen was banned for nine months after a similar move at the Tour of Poland last year contributed to a terrible crash that left Fabio Jakobsen in a coma. Jakobsen has since returned to riding and Groenewegen has repeatedly apologised.

'Incredibly unfair'

Tom Owen, Eurosport cycling expert: "It's incredibly unfair that a young rider like Jake Stewart gets deprived of a result in Cholet.

"Yes, Bouhanni gets relegated and that's absolutely right, but there's no way for Stewart to get that result back – could he have won? It's possible. Podium for sure."

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