Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) and Lewis Askey (Groupama – FDJ) duked it out during, and after, the finish of Stage 2 of Tour du Limousin-Périgord on Thursday. In the finale of the stage, Luca Mozzato of Arkéa-Samsic took the lead, with Askey and Cosnefroy vying for his wheel. As the sprint unfolded, Cosnefroy made a late manoeuvre to secure his position on Mozzato’s wheel ahead of Askey. This move prompted a physical altercation between the two riders as they battled for the sweet spot behind Mozzato. In the skirmish, the French rider found himself pushed close to the exposed barriers.
After crossing the finish line, Cosnefroy showed his frustration by grabbing and tugging at Askey’s jersey. As a result, officials slapped a 100 CHF fine on the Frenchman for “Unsporting behaviour that damages the image of the sport.”
“Coming up on the outside is one thing, that is part of racing, but doing it on the inside and pushing me into the barriers is very different. This isn’t like the Tour de France where the barriers don’t have feet, here it is much more dangerous,” he said after the race in an interview with la chaine L’Équipe. “We already take enough risks. In a fast sprint, a maneuver like that is scary.”
Benoît Cosnefroy agacé envers Lewis Askey après la ligne : « C’est son job de me mettre dans la boîte, il n’y a aucun problème. Mais entre me mettre dans la boîte pour que je ne passe pas et me mettre dans les pieds de barrières, il y a une différence. » #lequipeVELO #TDL2023 pic.twitter.com/lMGzJu8lA0
— la chaine L’Équipe (@lachainelequipe) August 16, 2023
After the race, Askey rode over to the AG2R Citroën team bus to patch things up.
“I went to the bus to speak to Benoît after the race. We’ve shaken hands. No bad blood.” he posted on his Instagram account.
Benoît Cosnefroy agacé envers Lewis Askey après la ligne : « C’est son job de me mettre dans la boîte, il n’y a aucun problème. Mais entre me mettre dans la boîte pour que je ne passe pas et me mettre dans les pieds de barrières, il y a une différence. » #lequipeVELO #TDL2023 pic.twitter.com/lMGzJu8lA0
— la chaine L’Équipe (@lachainelequipe) August 16, 2023
Watch the finish, and post-race altercation below:
A close call! There was drama today at the finish of stage two of the Tour du Limousin, as Luca Mozzato won his first career victory in a hectic bunch sprint!
Watch all the action over on GCN+ 👉 https://t.co/8FSJcLL3Gx…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…