Juan Pedro Lopez was having a rough day in the heat at the Tour Down Under, so he needed a bottle–well, maybe not to drink, but to hold.
During Stage 5, a 145.7-km day from McLaren Vale, Willunga Hill, the Spanish rider was bridging to the break. Along the way, he was caught on video multiple times with some very long tows from the Shimano neutral service moto.
How long can you actually hold onto a sticky bottle in a pro race?
Sure, a few seconds is fine when getting a bottle–but he wasn’t even getting a drink, merely a tow.
It’s unclear what he was thinking, given that cameras are everywhere during a pro race–but he certainly did not get away with it.
DSQ before final stage
He was disqualified before the start of the final 90-km stage in Adelaide. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) took the final G.C., with Israel – Premier Tech’s Michael Woods finishing 10th. Sam Welsford (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) took this third stage win of the Santos Tour Down Under. He also, unsurprisingly, won the points jersey.
Before the start of the stage, his Lidl Trek team posted a statement. “Lidl-Trek has received notice from the Tour Down Under race jury that Juan Pedro López has been removed from the race ahead of the final stage due to irregular feeding on Stage 5. Lidl-Trek accepts and respects the jury’s decision on this matter,” it read.
The 27-year-old rider also apologized on social media, saying, “I want to apologize to everyone for my action yesterday. I made a stupid decision in the course of the race and I am very sorry for it. I take responsibility for my mistake and I will learn from it.”
There have been some notable examples in cycling of riders taking a long bottle. But this one definitely takes the cake.
Check out a the video of the incident below.
Juanpe Lopez disqualified from Tour Down Under for this sticky bottle 😱 #TourDownUnder pic.twitter.com/PAhyfPCTmC
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) January 25, 2025
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…