Sometimes fights happen when tempers boil over and particularly in a cycling peloton where crashes happen regularly and usually result in a bad injury. The higher tensions mean that sometimes aggression gets the better of some riders. Below are three recent examples of such altercations.
1. Andriy Grivko fights Marcel Kittel, 2017 Tour of Dubai
Today’s news is that Marcel Kittel was punched by Astana’s Andriy Grivko on Stage 3 of the Tour of Dubai. As you can see from the picture it looks like it was a solid punch too. Andriy Grivko has been thrown out of the race and Kittel is asking for him to be banned for 6 months. It seems that as the peloton entered an area of crosswinds, with riders jostling for position Grivko lashed out without provocation. The punch broke Kittel’s glasses and a later attempt at an apology fell on deaf ears.
2. Gianluca Brambilla & Ivan Rovny fighting whilst riding 2014 Vuelta
Two riders in the breakaway, with one saying the other wasn’t pulling his weight effort wise. Brambilla gave Rovny’s jersey a short tug and then it all kicked off. Both riders were ejected from the Vuelta Espana after this bout, which seems to have been allowed to go on for quite a while with no other interaction. The wry shake of the head from the Caja Rural rider in green says it all.
3. Carlos Barreda fights Rui Costa with a wheel, 2010 Tour de France
Possibly the worst one on this list because it involves using something else as a weapon. As well as being a bit more premeditated than an out of hand disagreement on the bike. Carlos Barreda storms across a crowd and tries to fit former World Champion Rui Costa’s head through a wheel. Everyone else around just seems to let them get on with it in the mean time. Apparently a touching of bars near the end of the stage precipitated the attack and both riders got off lightly with a €300 fine.
