The Vuelta a España jury took a dim view of Vincenzo Nibali’s use of his team car to help him back to the main bunch after a crash – ejecting the Italian from the race for taking a tow.
While Nibali and Astana protested that this kind of thing happens all the time – which it almost certainly does – rules are rules and the 2014 Tour de France winner had to pack his bags.
If he wanted to find a little compassion for his plight, it’s probably best that he stayed away from Twitter, where the initial shock was followed by some not-so subtle mocking. Here are some of the best tweets.
1. The Bristol Bike Centre start things off with this cracking meme.
Vincenzo Nibali caught up in sticky car affair #nibali #Vuelta2015 #Vuelta pic.twitter.com/Jm0woPA2uR
— Bristol Bike Centre (@BristolCycles) August 24, 2015
2. Richard Moore’s reaction was shared by everyone who heard about the DQ before they saw it. You can watch the video here.
When I heard about Nibali's Vuelta disqualification I thought it a bit extreme on the part of the race jury.
Now I've seen the footage.
— Richard Moore (@richardmoore73) August 24, 2015
3. Eurosport’s Carlton Kirby, who was commentating on the race, joked that Nibali ought to be commended for holding on to the car in tricky circumstances.
Nibali is complaining about the suspension. He says it needs adjusting as it was hard to hold onto the car on the steep bits
— Carlton Kirby (@carltonkirby) August 23, 2015
4. Kirby’s co-commentator Dan Lloyd made this excellent gag…
Rubbing salt into the wounds, Nibali's Strava file has just been flagged.
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) August 23, 2015
5. While Daniel Friebe recalled this incident from the Tour de France.
https://twitter.com/friebos/status/635536715231461377
6. The Race Radio trawled the photo archives for this cracking picture. The jury must have been busy after this one.
In light of Nibali's epic power bottle here is one of my favorite "Pro's holding onto a car" pics pic.twitter.com/xbzsk28X60
— Race Radio (@TheRaceRadio) August 23, 2015
7. Nibali will undoubtedly be cursing the use of helicopters to record footage of the race.
I imagine Nibali thought he was safe with no camera bikes nearby. Might need special cleaner to get that glue off his hands. Over to you Aru
— Orla Chennaoui (@SkyOrla) August 23, 2015
8. While John Scripps makes this very valid point.
