Andriy Grivko handed 45-day ban over Dubai Tour bust-up with Marcel Kittel

German sprinter Kittel of Quick Step Floors was left bloodied after Grivko hit out at him during stage three of the race on February 2, and the Astana rider was subsequently disqualified from the race and fined 200 Swiss francs (£161) by organisers.

On Thursday, the UCI announced its disciplinary commission had issued Grivko with a ban which will start at the beginning of next month.

"The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that its Disciplinary Commission has decided to suspend Mr Andrey Grivko for a period of 45 days from 1st May to 14th June 2017, following an incident which occurred at the Dubai Tour on 2nd February 2017," a statement said.

The incident happened early on stage three of the race, but though Grivko and his team apologised Kittel was still fuming hours later, having said that it prevented him from adding to his victories on each of the opening two stages.

The German posted pictures of his injuries on social media, and wrote "I won't accept an apology for this. That has nothing to do with cycling. What Grivko did is a shame for our beautiful sport."

Despite the incident, Kittel went on to claim overall victory in the Tour, which strongly favours sprinters.