La Vuelta 2020 - Why Sam Bennett was denied Stage 9 Vuelta win and relegated for dangerous cycling

ByTom Bennett

Updated 29/10/2020 at 20:09 GMT

Sam Bennett thought he'd won Stage 9 of La Vuelta after powering across the line first with a blistering display of power in the bunch sprint. But the race jury relegated the Deceuninck-Quickstep rider moments later due to dangerous cycling earlier in the run-in.

Sam Bennett was denied another Grand Tour stage win on Thursday when La Vuelta organisers relegated the initial stage winner for dangerous cycling. Pascal Ackermann of Bora-Hansgrohe was retrospectively awarded the win.

But was the decision fair? You can judge for yourself.

Bennett either leans or shoulder-barges into Emils Liepins (depending on your viewpoint) twenty seconds into the video below.

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And then he does the same thing again two seconds later.

Watch the finish to Stage 9 of La Vuelta that saw Sam Bennett relegated

The helicopter shot gives a good angle of the infringement and shows why the commisaires believe relegation was the appropriate step.

And Sean Kelly agreed, telling Dan Lloyd in The Breakaway that it was the correct decision.

‘No way he was going to get away with it’ - Kelly breaks down why Bennett was relegated

Deceuninck Quick-Step had a different view, tweeting shortly after the stage that the relegation was due to:

"A complaint from another team - whose rider tried to barge into Bennett's train, who defended his position."

With the drama going on ahead in the sprint there was no substantial movement in the general classification, meaning Richard Carapaz (Ineos) remains in the overall lead.

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) had a last minute bike change as the race neared its conclusion but the pace on the run-in was so benign he was able to catch back onto the peloton well before the sprint. He is still 13 seconds off the race lead.

With no classified climbs at all, the king of the mountains jersey remains on the shoulders of Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) for another day.

Should Sam Bennett have been relegated for dangerous sprinting?

Yes, it was dangerous and deserved the punishmentNo, he didn't cross the line in defending his position

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