Anger and accusations as Aussie sprint star Caleb Ewan stripped of Tour Down Under Stage 5 win

Lotto-Soudal’s Caleb Ewan was aghast to find he had been sensationally stripped of his Stage 5 win after crossing the finish line first. And the tension didn’t end there on a day of high drama at the Tour Down Under.

Superstar Peter Sagan looks on from the Bora-Hansgrohe's team van. Picture: Brenton EDWARDS / AFP

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UCI triple world champion Peter Sagan was swearing in English and Italian as he rolled back to his BORA-hansgrohe team van after the dramatic Tour Down Under Stage 5 finish at Strathalbyn on Saturday.

His mood reflected the anger and tension that had gripped the peloton throughout the stage.

Sagan wasn’t the only one left enraged.

Lotto-Soudal’s Caleb Ewan, having crossed the finish line first, was aghast to find he had been sensationally stripped of his win.

Eventual winner after protest Jasper Philipsen, left, with Caleb Ewan, middle, and Peter Sagan. Picture Sarah Reed

The 24-year-old was found guilty of an “irregular sprint” before the Stage 5 finish line.

Ewan’s sports director, Mario Aerts, was irate, suggesting Neil Stephens from UAE Team Emirates may have lodged the protest.

After the Australian was disqualified, the win was awarded to 20-year-old UAE Team Emirates prodigy Jasper Philipsen. But Stephens said he had not seen the incident because he had been in the team car, and had later simply asked commissaires if the result would stand.

“The manager of the team said maybe we should question it,” he said. “I went to the commissaires, and they asked me what I was going to do, and I said, ‘I didn’t see it so I can’t opinionate - all I’m doing is asking was it OK or not?’

“Apart from the fact that bike racing is bike racing, Caleb is a friend of mine, I have a lot of respect for him, it’s not up to me to say if it’s right or wrong, all I did was ask the commissaires what their opinion was.”

🏁 STAGE FINISH. Here's another look at the incident that saw @CalebEwan relegated. See the placings across the line in a dramatic end to the day's racing. Full results on the relegation at https://t.co/m544HYpVqZ ... #TourDownUnder pic.twitter.com/JUDiqe3Fqs

— Santos Tour Down Under 🚴🚴‍♀️ (@tourdownunder) January 19, 2019

Aerts saw things differently.

“See the helicopter images because here (in the ruling) they said Jasper Philipsen was on the wheel of Sagan but I disagreed and then we saw the helicopter images and Ewan was on the wheel of Sagan,’’ he said after Ewan had stormed off the circuit into a van, which whisked him off to the Hilton Adelaide.

Aerts said Ewan had been forced to use his head to protect himself and to avoid going into the barrier. “He said, ‘I cannot use my hands so what do, I do to stay up straight’ … if they can’t use their hands, they have to use something else of their body. It’s a heavy decision for a light thing to do, in my opinion.

Aerts said he had been told he could not appeal, and pointed the finger at Stephens.

“Probably Neil Stephens did that protest but I didn’t know,” he said. “It’s a hunch. I don’t know, I’m guessing.”

Eventual Stage 5 winner Jasper Philipsen from UAE Team. Picture: SARAH REED

Meanwhile, Philipsen was ecstatic after his maiden World Tour stage win. “It was about 350m to go, I was a bit on the right and wanted to go on Sagan's wheel,’’ Philipsen said.

“But Caleb was there so he tried to knock me a bit out with his head. I'm not going to decide if it was wrong or not. It was a decision of the jury so I can only respect them.”

Australia’s Trek-Segafredo gun Richie Porte confirmed tensions had been high and was upset about Patrick Bevin crashing about 10km from the finish, perhaps ending his general classification hopes.