Race favorite Richie Porte had a forgettable day at the Tour of Italy on Tuesday after he flatted on the run-in to the finish of stage 10, accepted a wheel from a rider on another team, then got hit by the race jury with a two-minute time penalty for taking the wheel.
The rider who gave up his wheel to Porte, Simon Clarke, is a fellow Australian.
At first it seemed like everyone was overjoyed at seeing a rider from another team help out one of the favorites.
Many were thrilled to see one Aussie helping out another in a moment of potential disaster.
After crossing the line, Porte, who rides for Sky Pro Cycling, was down 1 minute, 9 seconds on race leader Alberto Contador, his main rival.
Being just over a minute down is not the end of the world in a three-week stage race, and even though Porte would have had to work hard to make up the time, he still had a fighting chance.
The race itself tweeted this act showed that "cycling is the best sport":
This is cycling. This is the best sport in the world.#Giropic.twitter.com/gK4C4YfSg9
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 19, 2015Yet the rules say that you can't take a wheel from a rider on another team:
Ufficiali i 2 minuti di penalità per Richie Porte pic.twitter.com/USrXBMZJEp
— SpazioCiclismo (@SpazioCiclismo) May 19, 2015Part of the controversy here has to do with the sport's governing body, the UCI, and its checkered history of enforcing its rules consistently:
Part of #giro issue is that commissaires actually overlook a lot, so there's a lack of certainty about what they'll do in a given case.
— Michael Hutchinson (@Doctor_Hutch) May 19, 2015So now Porte is trailing Contador by a whopping 3 minutes, 9 seconds after 10 stages into the 21-stage race.
Up until today, Porte had a decent shot at potentially beating Contador and winning the Giro, his first grand tour, or three-week race.
After fellow Aussie and former Tour de France champion Cadel Evans retired earlier this year, Porte is Australia's best chance at winning a grand tour. Needless to say this new blow will come as a major disappointment to him, his team, and his fans.
While Porte can technically still win the Giro d'Italia, of course, the penalty is bad news. He's likely aiming for a third-place finish now, at best. Of course, if he can somehow manage to win the race, it would go down as one of the greatest comebacks in the race's history.
There are many tough stages to go before the race finishes in Milan on May 30, including several brutal mountain stages. But Contador is one of the best climbers in the race, and it's unlikely that Porte will be able to do much to undo the damage done. If anything Contador could extend his lead.
"Not the best of luck for me today but guess it could have been worse," Porte said on Twitter. "Ready to fight all the way to Milan!"
He added on Instagram: "If that's not Aussie mate ship then what is? Punctured and clarkey gave me his front wheel #oweyouabeer"
Porte, who is a probably a stronger time-trial rider than Contador these days, can maybe gain some time back in the TT, but even that is not certain. Contador is riding strong, even though he's nursing an injured shoulder.
Team Sky issued this statement:
Richie Porte has received a two-minute time penalty at the Giro d'Italia following his late puncture on stage 10.
Porte suffered a flat tyre inside the last 10km of Monday's stage into Forlì and received a spare wheel from Orica-GreenEdge rider Simon Clarke. Unbeknownst to the riders, the move contravened a UCI ruling for 'non-regulation assistance to a rider of another team'. Both received a time penalty after the stage, and a fine of 200 Swiss Francs.
The decision means Porte has dropped to 12th place in the general classification, three minutes and nine seconds behind race leader Alberto Contador.
Commenting on the time penalty, Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: "It is obviously disappointing that a sporting gesture made in the heat of the moment has resulted in such a strong penalty. No one was trying to gain an unfair advantage.
"This has however just strengthened our resolve and determination to fight for this race. Richie and the whole team are ready to take it on and there is a lot of this Giro left."
As VeloNews reported, it's hardly the first time there was a friendly gesture made between riders from different teams:
Teams often pass rival riders a water bottle from the car or have their mechanics stop to help a rider from another squad.
The jury turns its head when team mechanics give their own cyclists a “magic spanner” by holding the bike and pretending to fix it as they make their way to the group again after a crash or mechanical. They also use a similar “sticky bottle” move, which often goes somehow unnoticed as well.
The Giro d’Italia faced a difficult decision Tuesday: dock time and hurt the race overall battle, or turn a blind eye and risk being ridiculed in public.
“But what credibility can the Giro have if we are to allow something like this? This credibly applies, even if sometimes this hurts someone,” race director Mauro Vegni told VeloNews.
“I can understand this ‘fair play,’ like how they wrote back and forth on Twitter, but the rules are that way, the rules say that: You can’t pass equipment to another team.”
The consensus on Twitter was that the penalty was harsh and the UCI's rulings are all but predictable. Here's a sample:
How do you say "bullshit" in Italian?
— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) May 19, 2015
GC shouldn't be decided by this kind of rule. Flat tire alone in critical moment is penalty enough! @richie_porte@giroditalia
— Chris Horner (@hornerakg) May 19, 2015
What a desperately bad decision by judges at Giro. Really foolish to penalise friendship & goodwill, exactly what we need to see more of
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) May 19, 2015— Team Sky (@TeamSky) May 19, 2015
Feeling sad for @richie_porte. Tried to help a friend as most would. I'm sorry about the outcome of all this!
— Simon Clarke (@SimoClarke) May 19, 2015
How the UCI decides which of its rules it actually enforces. #Giropic.twitter.com/tNousCbPwm
— daniel (@cyclingreporter) May 19, 2015There are other rules that the UCI often turns a blind eye to, like the one that says riders are not to ride up on the sidewalk during races. But it happens all the time without penalty:
What a sport ours is. #OHN p/b @quarqpic.twitter.com/5fJAITOWRN
— peloton magazine (@pelotonmagazine) February 28, 2015SEE ALSO: A fan trying to take a photo caused a horrific crash at Italy's biggest bike race
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