Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) was penalised for obstruction on the run toward the stage 2 sprint at the Tour de Hongrie, but the rider still got to keep his stage runner-up spot behind Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan).
Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), who started the day in the jersey of the race leader after winning stage 1, was riding on Cavendish’s wheel ahead of a sweeping right hand bend less than a kilometre from the finish line. Then Groenewegen came across and pushed Welsford off the Manxman’s wheel.
A fine of “CHF 200, 20% penalty in points classification and 10 seconds penalty for infringement” was handed to Groenewegen in the Communique of the Commissaires panel included with the stage 2 results. The penalty was due to the “obstruction by a rider in order to prevent movement of another rider”.
After the contact with Groenewegen, the Australian pulled out of the charging bunch and came to a standstill. Bora-Hansgrohe said on social media that Welsford had “hit the curb and punctured while battling for positions in the finale”. As a result the rider came over the line more than a minute and a half back but the communication in the official results said that due to the mechanical problem in the last 3 kilometers he was credited with the time of the winner.
That means Welsford retained his place near the top of the overall standings, with bonus seconds taken during the stage shifting Martin Voltr (Pierre Baguette Cycling) into the top spot while the winners of the first two stages, Cavendish and Welsford, sit five seconds back in second and third. Groenewegen – who was given a nine-month ban for his part in a crash involving Fabio Jakobsen at the Tour de Pologne in 2020 – is now sitting 96th on the tight GC, 19 seconds back.
It is the second stage in a row where there have been penalties imposed due to actions in the final sprint. On stage 1 there was a crash that took down multiple riders as the charge to the line was unfolding, with Campbell Stewart (Jayco-AlUla) hitting the ground hard after peeling off after leading out for Groenewegen, when Emils Liepins (dsm firmenich-Post NL) appeared to swing across his path and clip his front wheel.
Liepins was penalised for a “deviation from the chosen line that obstructs or endangers rider(s) during the final sprint” and was given a fine, 25% penalty in the points and was also relegated to last place in the bunch on the stage.
The sprinters are likely to take a back seat at the five day tour on Friday, with the ascent heavy stage 3 set to stretch out the overall gaps and send the climbers to the top of the GC ranks. The 183 km stage from Kazincbarcika to Gyöngyös-Kékestető first delivers a category two ascent before then heading into a category one summit finish.