Dylan Groenewegen may have won the opening stage and finished second on stage 2 of the Dubai Tour, but the Dutchman now looks out of contention for the leader’s jersey after receiving a 20-second penalty by the race jury.
The 24-year-old held a two second lead over Elia Viviani at the start of stage 3 and was hoping to continue his impressive form ahead of the uphill finish on stage four to Hatta Dam.
However, a mechanical issue with 70km remaining saw the LottoNL-Jumbo rider fall behind the peloton.
With 90 minutes of racing to go, Groenewegen sat in behind his team car, before the car accelerated to help him back up the peloton ā an act that was spotted by race commissaries on the ground.
Opnieuw problemen met mijn fiets vandaag, terug gekomen achter de auto en daardoor 20 seconde straf en terecht! Zwaar k*t dat de kans om de ronde van dubai te winnen nu weg is! (2 dagen 3 keer het zelfde probleem met mijn fiets mag niet gebeuren)! š”
ā Dylan Groenewegen (@GroenewegenD) February 8, 2018
