2012 Giro d'Italia Stage 18

May 24, Stage 18: San Vito di Cadore - Vedelago 139km

Guardini has Cavendish's number in Vedelago

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-18/results)

He’d waited almost three weeks but in the sprinters’ final opportunity Andrea Guardini (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) finally delivered, winning stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia. It was a triumph worth waiting for, worth the jibes he’d received from the Italian press who questioned why he had failed to impress in any of the previous sprints, and certainly worth remaining in the race for after so many of his sprint rivals had packed up and gone home.

Finishing ahead of Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) and Roberto Ferrari (Androni) the Farnese rider has finally arrived on the big stage.

“I’m still very young and I’ve got to develop a lot as a rider. I’ve really suffered on the climbs in this Giro d’Italia but 198 riders started the Giro and now there’s only 168 left. That proves something," Guardini said.

“During the first week of the Giro d’Italia I didn’t believe in myself enough. I’d been struggling in the sprints and things hadn’t been going my way. I knew this sprint was the last chance I had. I knew it suited me because it was so flat. I knew my chance was today or that I’d have to wait until next year. I knew I could beat Cavendish but I knew I had to jump first and by doing that today, I’ve realised what I can do.”

“The difference between winning this sprint and winning one after 250km of racing all comes down to experience. A few years ago Cavendish struggled on the climbs and he’s amazing, as he proved by winning Milano-Sanremo at the first attempt and at my age. I think I’m a similar kind of sprinter as Cavendish but my idol was Robbie McEwen who retired a few days ago.”

Stage 18 from San Vito Cardore to Vedelago, less than 150km long and on flat and downhill roads, marked the sprinters last chance of taking a stage and everything pointed towards Cavendish’s fourth stage win of the race. Matthew Goss, Mark Renshaw and Theo Boss had long since left the race and Cavendish, who snapped up the maximum points on offer at the day’s intermediate sprint, looked as hungry as ever.

The world champion appeared crowded out though as the peloton raced towards the line. With Peter Kennaugh out of the race Sky was missing a key ingredient from its train and Bernhard Eisel and Geraint Thomas were forced to work overtime inside the final 10 kilometres. Omega Pharma-Quickstep and Saxo Bank decided to take charge but inside the final kilometre Eisel nudged his way through the chaos and towards the front. Thomas and Cavendish were glued to his wheel and the stage winning headlines were being prepared.

There was the inevitable and messy scramble for the world champion’s wheel, a position almost as difficult to achieve as a sprint win itself. Roberto Ferrari and Guardini were the principle contenders, with the Farnese rider eventually yielding as Thomas hit the front inside the final 500.

But while Cavendish’s glory looked almost inevitable, an Italian 22-year-old from Pregnago thought otherwise, launching his sprint just as Cavendish raised himself from the saddle. The Italian went on the right, first around Ferrari and then the tiring Thomas as Cavendish struggled on the left.

As Cavendish looked to his right the writing was on the wall, and Guardini was able to raise his hands and saviour the biggest day in his career. A new winner, a new headline, a new sprinter has arrived.

After yesterday’s mammoth stage through the Dolomites and the legendary climb up the Passo Giau, the riders at this year’s Giro d’Italia set off for their final flat stage of the race. In usual circumstances the prospect of just 139 kilometres would be walk in the park. However after nearly three-weeks of racing, and with a number of teams still without a stage win, stage 18 was always destined to be tougher than expected.

After just 20 kilometres the first break formed with Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank), Stef Clement (Rabobank), Pier Paolo De Negri (Farnese Vini) and Angelo Pagani (Colnago-CSF Inox) going clear. Their lead stretched to 3 minutes before Sky and Omega Quickstep began to muster their troops.

With an intermediate sprint at kilometre 84 and Cavendish keen to claim as many points as possible ahead of a mountain double header and time trial Sky stretched themselves to bring the break back.

And once the British sprinter achieved the first aim of the day Sky allowed another move to go clear.

Clement was present again, clearly hoping he could rescue Rabobank’s poor Giro single-handedly. On this occasion he was joined by Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team), Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol Team) and Mickael Delage (FDJ-Big Mat).

Kaisen had more breakaway kilometres in his legs than any other rider in the race - 639 – with Keizer a close second at 612 and the foursome built up a lead approaching a minute with 46 kilometres remaining.

Sky reacted by putting the dependable Ian Stannard on the front, and the lone Sky rider kept the gap in check before a number of teams rolled up their sleeves and joined the pursuit.

Delage was the last man standing, and was briefly joined by Lars Bak, but the pair were never given much leeway, a gap of 11 seconds their biggest buffer.

Caught inside the final 4 kilometres it all came back together.

Full Results

1	Andrea Guardini (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia	3:00:52
2	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
3	Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
4	Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Barracuda
5	Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank
6	Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
7	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
8	Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
9	Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
10	Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team

Robbie McEwen: A Look Back

I am very sad to see Robbie McEwen retire from cycling. Although now he will be working as a spring coach, I will miss seeing him in the races:

Gallery: Robbie McEwen - a career in photos

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/gallery-robbie-mcewen-a-career-in-photos)

Note: Please go to the above site to see all the photos.

“You just keep putting in the work every season,” Robbie McEwen told Cyclingnews earlier this year.

Having just won the OCBC Cycling Criterium in Singapore at the age of 39 the sentiment was wholly true to McEwen’s nature and attitude.

Singapore was not the most glamorous of wins, certainly not when compared to the 24 Grand Tour stage wins he’d amassed during his long career, but a win nevertheless. And having retired from the sport at the conclusion of the Amgen Tour of California, Singapore was his final win as a professional rider. Over a career spanning three decades he'd won a race in each year of his career.

In a sense, his performance in the far east summarised McEwen’s character. Tenacious, hard working, gritty and ultimately lightening quick. Those blots may have occurred less frequently in recent year but there’s no arguing with the Australian’s glorious career.

Twelve wins in the Tour, along with three maillot verts, a spell in jaune, 12 Giro stages, five wins in Paris-Brussels, a Scheldeprijs, Vattenfall Cyclassics, and Dwars Vlaanderen thrown in for good measure - few sprinters could match his consistency, let alone his speed.

In a career that was book ended by the two greatest sprinters ever seen in Mario Cipollini and Mark Cavendish, McEwen stands out as the challenger who faced up, ready for a sprint but without so much as a lead-out train. He was a sprinter in the old fashioned mould.

His most impressive win came in the Tour de France in 2007, when, after crashing with 22 kilometres on the stage to Canterbury, he regained contact with the peloton only after his Lotto team time trialled him back to the bunch, allowing the Australian to showcase his sprinter power. He won by over a bike length.

Three year’s later at the Tour de France, Johan Vansummeren, one of McEwen’s teammates that day, picked out the stage to Canterbury as one of his proudest moments of a professional, a rubber stamp to McEwen’s popularity among his peers. Vansummeren had been dropped just before McEwen had made contact with the bunch but punched the air in joy when he heard McEwen's win announced through race radio.

"It's been often been fun, it's often been painful but I've enjoyed every minute of it," McEwen said as he prepared for his first day as a retired professional.

Like his rivals, Cipollini and Erik Zabel, McEwen will start the next phase of his life as a sprint coach, working with the young bucks at Orica-GreenEdge. Come July, when the Australian team are going toe-to-toe with the likes of Sky and Rabobank, who knows, there might be a little bit of McEwen in their sprinter style and tactics.

We hope so.

This ruined my day

No more McEwen/O'Grady sprint fights??? I'm sad now. :'(

McEwen to close career at Amgen Tour of California

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mcewen-to-close-career-at-amgen-tour-of-california)

GreenEdge's Robbie McEwen has confirmed he will stop his racing career after the Amgen Tour of California in May. The Australian indicated to Cyclingnews last November that he would convert from racer and sprint coach for his GreenEdge teammates to a completely advisory role at that time of year.

Currently racing at the Presidential Tour of Turkey, McEwen confirmed to Het Nieuwsblad that he still intends to retire from racing in May.

"I am definitely done after the Tour of California," McEwen said.

A three-time winner of the Tour de France's points competition with 12 stage wins there and 12 in the Giro d'Italia, McEwen started his career with the Rabobank team in 1996.

His contract with GreenEdge runs through 2013.

World Tour Standings as of 1/22/12

I thought about doing something special for my 200th blog post, but I couldn't think of anything. My mind is still beat from my 13 day work week. So, I decided two posts in one day was the way to go. This morning I posted the results from the Santos Tour Down Under, and now I wanted to post the updated WorldTour rankings:

Gerrans, RadioShack-Nissan top first WorldTour rankings

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gerrans-radioshack-nissan-top-first-worldtour-rankings)


Following his overall victory in the Santos Tour Down Under, GreenEdge's Simon Gerrans became the first leader of the UCI's WorldTour individual rankings.

Gerrans leads runner-up Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) by 19 points, with fellow podium finisher Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Nissan) in third, 15 further points back.

Thanks to the presence of both Machado and Jan Bakelants in the top five on general classification, the RadioShack-Nissan team kicked off the season at the top of the team rankings.

The Luxembourg squad leads Movistar by 7 points, with GreenEdge one point behind.

Strong performances by the home riders, who placed five riders in the points - Gerrans, Sky's Michael Rogers, Rabobank's Michael Matthews and Mark Renshaw and GreenEdge's Robbie McEwen - put Australia atop the nations rankings ahead of Spain and Portugal.

The WorldTour now takes a six-week hiatus before resuming at Paris-Nice on March 4.

WorldTour standings as of January 22, 2012

1	Simon Gerrans (Aus) Greenedge Cycling Team	106	pts
2	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team	87
3	Tiago Machado (Por) Radioshack-Nissan	72
4	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	61
5	Jan Bakelants (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan	40
6	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling	34
7	Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team	20
8	André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team	18
9	Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team	15
10	Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat	7
11	Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team	6
12	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD	6
13	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team	5
14	Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team	4
15	Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	4
16	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Radioshack-Nissan	3
17	Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team	1
18	Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	1
19	Robbie McEwen (Aus) Greenedge Cycling Team	1

Teams

1	Radioshack-Nissan	115	pts
2	Movistar Team	108
3	Greenedge Cycling Team	107
4	Sky Procycling	95
5	Rabobank Cycling Team	20
6	Lotto Belisol Team	18
7	Katusha Team	10
8	FDJ-Big Mat	7
9	Lampre - ISD	6
10	Omega Pharma-Quickstep	4
11	Liquigas-Cannondale	1

Nations

1	Australia	188	pts
2	Spain	114
3	Portugal	72
4	Belgium	40
5	Norway	34
6	Germany	22
7	Italy	10
8	Belarus	7
9	Russia	4

McEwen predicting the 2012 TdF Podium

Evans, Wiggins and Contador to podium in Tour de France, McEwen says

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-wiggins-and-contador-to-podium-in-tour-de-france-mcewen-says)

Robbie McEwen says that Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Alberto Contador are the top favourites for the 2012 Tour de France, with Tony Martin and Levi Leipheimer rounding out the top five. Andy and Fränk Schleck have no chance with the few mountaintop finishes and many time trial kilometres, the Australian said.

"I would say the main contenders when you look at the course - those two long time trials - are Cadel, Wiggo and Contador,” he told the AAP news agency.

"You never know, maybe a guy like (Germany's) Tony Martin also and I wouldn't completely discount (American) Levi Leipheimer - they're my five guys.

"The Schlecks are really at a disadvantage with their lack of time trialling ability. That makes it very, very difficult for them next year."

McEwen picked his countryman and former teammate Evans to take the title again. Evans was the strongest rider this year in the race, showing his strength at both the Galibier mountaintop finish and the Grenoble time trial.

Evans was also lucky that nothing serious went wrong, McEwen pointed out. “You maybe don't need to have a lot of good luck, but you just have got to not have any bad luck," McEwen said.

McEwen, 39, will ride for the newly formed GreenEdge team in the coming season, but only for the early part of the year. He will then hang his bike on the wall and serve as a scout for the team, helping out at the Tour.

"If I can give them some insight into the course, the wind direction, the best side of the road to sprint on and they win by a millimetre, then that sort of advice could have played an important role," he said.

God of Thunder vs. The Reigning Yellow Jersey

So here are two articles that I found yesterday allegedly about how Cadel Evans feels about Thor Hushovd's move to BMC:

Hushovd not to participate in 2012 Tour de France?

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hushovd-not-to-participate-in-2012-tour-de-france)

During his homecoming celebration in Melbourne, Australia, 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans suggested that was not going to share the team leadership at next year's event with world champion Thor Hushovd, who will join his BMC team in 2012.

In order to defend his crown, Evans said that he needed full team support and was unwilling to have a sprinter like Hushovd in the squad's nine-man roster during the Tour. "Regarding Thor coming to the team, the main objective of (team president) Jim Ochowicz was to get some guys onto the team to get some results early so they wouldn't rely just on me for race wins at the start of the year," he told Reuters.

"I said: 'Look Jim, you want to bring a sprinter to the team, I don't want to ride with a sprinter, because I've done that and I've done my share. If I do the Tour I want to do it for the win.'

"I was fairly clear about that and Jim was accepting of that, so it's under that basis that Thor comes to our team."

During his years at Lotto, Evans regularly had to share team leadership with fellow countryman and sprinter Robbie McEwen. His comments suggest that Hushovd, who has earned a total of ten stage victories at the Tour de France so far and could be a team leader in his own right, may be left out of the event to focus solely on Evans.

Hushovd, who has not been selected by his Garmin-Cervelo team to ride the upcoming Vuelta a Espana, has not yet reacted to Evans' comments yet. However, when he and the BMC team announced their agreement earlier this week, the Norwegian said that his "biggest goal" yet was to win Paris-Roubaix.

Cadel Evans warns Thor Hushovd to shove off
(http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/evans-warns-thor-to-shove-off/story-e6frfglf-1226114094385)


Cadel Evans has made it abundantly clear to his team that their star recruit, Norway's Thor Hushovd, must ride for him in next year's Tour de France.

Hushovd, who won the road race world championship in Geelong last year, won three stages and wore the leader's yellow jersey for eight days this year, riding for Garmin-Cervelo.

He is a major star in his own right.

A specialist sprinter who has won the green jersey at the Tour twice, Hushovd joined BMC last week, prompting immediate speculation that his presence could split the focus as Evans attempts to make it back-to-back victories.

But in Melbourne yesterday Evans said he had given team boss Jim Ochowicz a "my way or the highway" ultimatum.

"I said, 'Jim, if you want to bring in a sprinter I won't be riding the Tour with a sprinter because I've done that, I've done my share'," he said.

"If I do the Tour I want to do it for the win -- either that or I can do the Tour of Italy or the Tour of Spain or something. I was very clear about that and Jim was accepting of it. Thor comes to the team on the understanding that to win the Tour everyone has to be dedicated to the cause, especially in the modern era where teams are becoming so specialised in what they go for.

"Thor is someone who can win stages which takes the pressure off me."

Evans' uncompromising attitude relates to his troubled stint at Belgian team Lotto, where the support was split between him and fellow Australian Robbie McEwen, a superstar sprinter who won 12 stages of the Tour. Eventually the situation became untenable and both left the team within a year of each other.

Speaking after his welcome home parade in the city, Evans also said he was confident the fight against doping -- the long-time scourge of the sport -- was being won.

Cycling's controlling body, the UCI, has said this year's Tour appeared to have been the cleanest in memory.
"I think the sport has always been winning but it's a hard and complicated fight," Evans said.

"From what I see it's really improving. They're doing a great job but obviously have a lot more work to do.

"I won't say it's a never-ending fight but it's a complicated fight like fighting crime in modern society -- you can't eliminate it completely. They're doing well. I'm just sorry they don't get praised more for their efforts."

Evans expressed his good will for the fledgling GreenEDGE outfit, which plans to become the first Australian team to contest the Tour next year.

He said he was pleased to see veteran Stuart O'Grady had joined the team this week, saying: "He is still a good rider who will point them in the right direction with his influence on the younger guys."

Evans flies to the US today to resume racing in a new event in Colorado, and says he is already planning his assault on next year's Tour.

"Having done it once, I am confident I can do it again," he said.

Then after these two articles came out, Evans made a statement on his official Twitter account (CadelOfficial):

Checking the news.....I so want Thor #godofthunder on our Tour team next year....why do people say otherwise?

So I guess we are just going to have to wait and see. It's hard to know what to believe anymore, and as a huge Hushovd fan, I'm of course hoping to see him in 2012's Tour de France. I'm very curious to see what he can do for BMC while seeing what BMC can do for him. He's not just a sprinter; he's becoming more of a classics rider.

Evans' Twitter Praise

In this modern age, fellow althletes and countrymen can congratulate you not only to your face, but also publicly on social networking sites such as Twitter, as was the case after Cadel Evans won the 2011 Tour de France:

Australian professional cycling community praise Cadel Evans

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/australian-professional-cycling-community-praise-cadel-evans)

After three weeks of racing, Cadel Evans did what no Australian cyclist has done before and won the Tour de France. A tight-knit Australian cycling community were in disbelief, full of emotion and full of praise for his Tour winning performance. Yesterday we put together the amazing response of the broadcast and print press to Evans' victory.

Today, Cyclingnews has put together the tweets of a number of Australian professionals commenting on Evans’ stellar achievement.

Simon Gerrans, @simongerrans
"I'm super geed & proud of Cadel. Years of hard work and commitment are paying off."

Jack Bobridge, @JackBobridge
"Cadel you are my hero @CadelOfficial so happy for you congrats"

Wes Sulzberger, @Wes_Suzlberger
"AWESOME @CadelOfficial Wins the #TDF Done Australia proud!!!"

Matt Goss, @mattgoss1986
"Congrats to @CadelOfficial first aussie TDF winner!!! Incredible day for the sport in Australia.
"We may have climbed 5/8th of Everest on the road the other day but @CadelOfficial just stuck the aussie flag at the summit!!"

Stuart O’Grady, @StueyOG
"Congrats to cadel for making history. I'm a proud aussie and a proud leopard! The best man won. Congrats to all @ BMC."

Richie Porte, @richie_porte
"Game, set and match! First Aussie GT winner… Congrats Cadel."

Mark Renshaw, @Mark_Renshaw
"Great ride by @CadelOfficial hats off to the BMC boys. Looked after him all tour. Congrats."

Cameron Meyer, @cammeyercyclist
"History in the making today. What a ride and what a champion. You legend @CadelOfficial. Australia can be very proud."

Robbie McEwen, @mcewenrobbie
"Congratulations Cadel. Incredible 3 wks of riding."
Evans changed history in 3 ways by his win: 1) he was the 1st Australian to win the Tour de France, 2) he was the 1st non-European or American to win, 3) he was the old rider since WWII to win.

Congratulations again Cadel! You deserved this win!!!

Robbie McEwen...What's He Up To?

One of the cyclists that I love to watch race, was missing from the Tour de France: Robbie McEwen. Remember the clash he had with Stuart O'Grady a few years ago?

To my disapointment Robbie McEwen, decided to take a month off and thus miss the Tour. However, as I am writing this, he is competing in the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium. How's he doing, you ask? Not too shabby:

McEwen on track for road Worlds
(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mcewen-on-track-for-road-worlds)

After taking a more than one-month break from competition, Robbie McEwen (RadioShack) returned to racing in Belgium at the Tour de Wallonie and today sprinted to victory in the penultimate stage. It was the first win of the season for the 39-year-old Australian and a good harbinger of form as he builds for his goal of winning the road world championship in Copenhagen, Denmark this September.

McEwen, winner of 12 Tour de France stages and a three-time green jersey winner at the French Grand Tour, was not selected to RadioShack's.

"I didn't see much of the Tour de France as I was concentrated on my own training," said McEwen. "I just trained at home easy for a week, then I went to the South of France and trained a lot in the hills. Just four hours a day, medium tempo, just building up my condition.

"A week before this race, back in Belgium I trained in the hills of the Flemish Ardennes and planned to used this Tour de Wallonie to get some rhythm back again. Apparently I found my rhythm quite quickly. This is promising for the next couple of months."

McEwen intended to work for teammate Manuel Cardoso in the finale of the Tour de Wallonie's fourth stage, but instead found himself in perfect position on the wheel of Daniele Bennati whose wheel he jumped off of for victory in Mouscron

"I am still very ambitious," said McEwen. "Since the beginning of the season the world championships in Copenhagen is a big objective. I think I can do a big preparation by doing this race and races like Eneco Tour, Hamburg, Plouay and Fourmies. I just need to be selected now. Hopefully that will be the case."Tour de France squad and spent the time training.

Blast From The Past II

In July 2005, an intense sprint took place. So intense, in fact, that one of the riders, Robbie McEwen, was excluded from his place in the stage and put last in the day's standings:

So it appears that McEwen leaned against Stuart O'Grady to stop O'Grady from beating him. Tom Boonen (Green Jersey in above photo) won the stage, but would he have still won it this insult never happened?

McEwen penalised for compatriot nudge

In cycling terms it barely qualifies as handbags at ten paces, but the all-Australian sprint tussle between national champion Robbie McEwen and Stuart O'Grady on the third stage of the Tour de France had race officials smarting.

McEwen's erratic-looking behaviour in the final 100 metres of the home straight, he claimed, was a bid to get himself balanced better because O'Grady had been leaning on his handlebars.

However McEwen did himself no favours by trying to side-butt O'Grady with his helmet as the pair fought to get to the finish line for the precious points for the green jersey.

Despite his claims, the jury saw otherwise.

Jean-Michel Voets, a race official for 20 years who is presiding over the jury on the Tour for the second year, said his three other jury members were unanimous in excluding the Brisbane racer from the third stage won in style by Belgian ace Tom Boonen.

"We relegated Robbie McEwen to the back of the peloton for what we call an irregular sprint," he told AFP.

"The whole world saw what happened and we believe we made the right decision. We have to make these kind of decisions to protect the image of cycling, especially on the Tour de France."

McEwen's disqualification, which dropped him from third to ninth in the points competition standings, had most observers divided but there was no doubt that McEwen was the one making most of the contact.

In the meantime, apparently unstoppable Quick Step sprinter Boonen surged past the trouble going on at his right hand side to grab his second stage win in as many days.

As Boonen collected another 35 points for the green jersey competition - he now has 70 - McEwen tumbled down the points classification from third place to ninth.

The 33-year-old Davitamon rider is stuck on the 26 points he picked up for third place on Sunday.

It was no wonder McEwen, who has won the sprinters' top prize twice, in 2002 and last year, claimed he had been unfairly treated.

"I don't understand the decision. I told the commissaire (official), who's probably never done a sprint, I had to do it to stop falling," McEwen said.

"The arm of O'Grady is on top of my arm. He was leaning on my handlebars and we're going so fast that all you're thinking about is trying not to fall.

"I'm not trying to make a complaint against another rider. It's not so bad if two sprinters make contact but they (officials) have to look at that."

O'Grady, who said he is simply hoping to win a stage before even thinking of going for the green jersey, was having none of that.

"It was a bit too much really, too aggressive," said O'Grady of his McEwen's move.

"I was heading towards the line and then I suddenly saw Robbie McEwen's head on my shoulder," added O'Grady, who has worn the yellow jersey and won two stages in previous Tours.

For Belgian official Voets, McEwen simply went a step too far.

"Robbie McEwen is a charming guy, but he gave sprinters a bad image," he added.

"We've looked at the pictures several times. Firstly, we weren't happy that he tried to get through a 'mousehole' (tight space). Then he gave Stuart O'Grady a few hits with his helmet."

Boonen, who coasted to victory on Sunday proved yet again he has the determination to dominate the first week.

Boonen was in 11th or 12th place in a tight bunch as they raced for the finish after an exciting finale to a stage which had been lit up by Erik Dekker before the Dutchman's 200km breakaway, along with Frenchman Nicholas Portal, was caught with only two kilometres to go.

However the Belgian played his cards perfectly, following several back wheels before pounding the pedals furiously and launching a ferocious charge for the line.

The good-looking 24-year-old from Antwerp has become an icon in his cycling-mad country where he has received thousands of marriage proposals from gushing Belgians.

(http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/mcewen-cops-tour-de-france-disqualification/2005/07/05/1120329414154.html)