'Dangerous behaviour': Team Sky's Gianni Moscon blamed for causing season-ending crash of FDJ rider

Team Sky's Gianni Moscon has been accused of "dangerous behaviour" after FDJ claimed that he caused Sebastien Reichenbach to crash at Tre Valli Varesine.

While Moscon would go on to finish seventh in the Italian race on Tuesday, which was won by Alexandre Geniez (Ag2r La Mondiale), Reichenbach crashed around 75km in to the 192.8km event, being taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured elbow that will put an end to his season.

Reichenbach has not provided comment on the exact nature of the incident, which occurred on the descent of the Motta Rossa climb, but his team said on Twitter that the crash had been caused by the "dangerous behaviour" of Moscon.

Also writing on Twitter, Moscon said he wished Reichenbach a swift recovery from his injuries, referring to an "accident in today's race", and later saying that Reichenbach's hands had "slipped from his handlebars" on a rough descent.

However that wasn't quite the same version of events given by Reichenbach, who told Swiss press that Moscon had pushed him off his bike.

After a relatively quiet first season in the professional ranks, the 23-year-old Moscon has been no stranger to controversy in 2017, firstly being suspended by Team Sky for six weeks after footage appeared to show him racially abusing FDJ rider Kevin Reza at the Tour de Romandie, and then being disqualified from the World Championships for holding on to the side of a team car.

However the Italian has also suffered misfortune with his front wheel collapsing in dramatic fashion in a team time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico.

While Reichenbach has surgery on his elbow and looks to recover ahead of the 2018 season, Moscon will likely finish his season at Il Lombardia on Saturday.