One more line to its sulphurous CV. The Italian Gianni Moscon (Ineos), already known for his escapades in the peloton, was disqualified from the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne race this Sunday for having thrown a bicycle on another participant in the Belgian semi-classic, a rider from French training B & B Hotels-Vital Concept.
On aerial videos of the race, the Italian is seen in the aisle after a collective fall. He grabs a bicycle and throws it at another rider, also caught in the fall. It is the Belgian Jens Debusschere according to his training. The organizers of the race relayed on Twitter a video from the Belgian site Sporza reporting his disqualification.
Moscon werpt boos andermans fiets in de beek na deze valpartij. From gevolgen zijn zwaar: diskwalificatie pic.twitter.com/QHb3L94RHk
- sporza (@sporza) March 1, 2020It is not the first time that Gianni Moscon, 25, has been disqualified from a race due to violent behavior. In 2018, he was excluded from the Tour de France and suspended five weeks after hitting the Frenchman Elie Gesbert on the helmet.
In spring 2017, Trentino had been suspended internally by his own team after racist insults against Frenchman Kevin Reza. At the end of the season, he was accused by the Swiss Sébastien Reichenbach, who had supported Reza, of having caused his fall in a race in Italy (Trois Vallées Varésines). However, he had not finally been sanctioned by the UCI disciplinary committee, apparently for lack of evidence.