'What the f*** are you doing?!' - Samuele Battistella screams at slacking rival Jimmy Janssens at La Vuelta
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Published 28/08/2022 at 16:07 GMT
It was a fractious day in the peloton as two Alpecin–Deceuninck riders provoked the ire of rivals. Samuele Battistella yelled “what the f*** are you doing?” at Jimmy Janssens in the closing stages, while Marc Soler had earlier taken issue with Robert Stannard. Battistella calmed down to finish second on Stage 9 on Sunday, although the victory disappeared after failing to convince Janssens to work.
'What the f*** are you doing?!' - Battistella screams at Janssens in cooperation row
Samuele Battistella (Astana Qazaqstan) exploded with fury at his fellow escapee Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin–Deceuninck) as his rival refused to cooperate on Stage 9 at La Vuelta.
The Italian screamed "what the f*** are you doing" as Janssens sat on his back wheel with 7km remaining of the final climb to Les Praeres, rather than help maintain their advantage at the front of the race.
The pair only had a 20-second lead over a seven-strong chase group, which contained Janssens’ team-mate Robert Stannard, as Battistella lost his cool.
“He’s not happy. I was going to say it’s a gentleman’s ‘excuse me’ this but it’s not quite so civil,” said Carlton Kirby on Eurosport commentary.
Their stale cooperation proved pivotal.
Although Janssens attacked on the steep climb to Les Praeres, briefly pulling clear of Battistella, the duo were soon hoovered up by Louis Meintjes (Intermarche–Wanty–Gobert Materiaux).
Meintjes soloed clear for a first Grand Tour stage win as Battistella rediscovered his groove for second. Janssens finished 11th although his primary objective was achieved: sweeping up mountain points to protect team-mate Jay Vine's lead in the KOM competition.
Battistella's outburst was the second flash of anger on Sunday’s stage.
Earlier, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and Stannard had a furious row.
Soler appeared to be aggrieved at the lack of cooperation as the day’s breakaway tried to form with 131km remaining on the run from Villaviciosa to Les Praeres – although he may have simply been angered by Stannard moving across his path.
Eventually the pair settled their differences and resumed riding, although only Stannard made it into the day’s nine-strong break.
But the day was mainly about Meintjes and Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), who obliterated his GC contenders on the summit finish to cement his place in the red jersey.
Evenepoel leads the overall race by 1’12” from Enric Mas (Movistar), who this time was unable to follow the 22-year-old, with Roglic at 1’53” heading into the second rest day.
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