TakeWorlds3 weeks ago
Benjamín Noval soloed to Spain's first junior men's road title since 1994, the same day his national coach got expelled from the rest of the Worlds for launching the team car over a pedestrian crossing. The UCI didn't just fine Eleuterio Anguita Hinojosas — it threw him out even though the junior team's competition was already over.
Noval, 17, won the road race 42 seconds clear of France's Simon Defrance, completing the junior time trial-road race double last done by Remco Evenepoel in 2018. Anguita was chasing that same solo move when the car, loaded with spare wheels and bikes, hit a bump and went airborne near spectators. Under UCI convoy rules, cars are meant to sit roughly a minute behind riders — Noval's gap was exactly what made the coach's move so unnecessary. The expulsion covering an already-finished junior campaign says the sanction was about the incident itself, not competitive advantage.
Sources
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