Giro d'Italia: Lopez hits fan after being knocked from bike - Video
Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team) will not be penalized for swatting at a fan who knocked him from his bike on the climb to the finish on Saturday's penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia.
The UCI regulations state that the penalty for an act of violence 'towards any other person' (i.e. non-riders) is elimination from the race plus a 200CHF fine, but Lopez avoided punishment from the race jury, who classified his outburst as a 'human reaction'. Lopez later apologised for his actions and asked for more respect from the fans. You can view a video of the incident below.
Lopez was leading a chase group behind the attacking trio of Vincenzo Nibali, Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa at the time of the incident.
A man who was running alongside Lopez, Pavel Sivakov (Ineos), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) tangled with another fan and then ran into Lopez, sending the Colombian sprawling.
Lopez quickly got to his feet and swatted the fan in the face before knocking his cap off and returning to his bike to continue, eventually finishing 1:49 behind stage winner and teammate Pello Bilbao and the maglia rosa group.
"I got knocked the ground. This requires more respect for the riders. I’m sorry. It was a moment of pure adrenaline and it happened like that," Lopez said.
— Diego Vos ciclismo (@diegovos_) June 1, 2019
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