Movistar’s Mas and Ineos’s Kwiatkowski in finish line incident on Tour | Video
Posted on: July 3rd, 2021
It’s no secret there’s bad feeling between 2019 Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz and his former employers, Movistar. It stems from Carapaz signing for Ineos Grenadiers at the end of 2019 for a huge pay increase.
Movistar complained at the time that Carapaz had promised he was staying with the Spanish team, but was secretly speaking to the rival British WorldTour outfit.
Tension between the two teams has now spilled over in public for the first time at the Tour de France, with the dispute captured by spectators at the roadside.
The video that has now emerged, below, shows Michał
Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) in discussion with Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
as they crossed the line at stage end.
Valverde looked animated as he made his points and
gesticulated with his hands, though that was the extent of his contribution. Their
exchange did not boil over.
However, Enric Mas (Movistar) had finished just ahead of the duo and he waited for them beyond the finish line. He intervened and the temperature went up.
The incident seems to relate to Ineos Grenadiers objecting when Movistar chased down Carapaz in the finale of yesterday’s stage, and caught him. He attacked the remains of the peloton, with Movistar chasing him and taking pressure off Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates).
Carapaz rode flat out for the final 13km but was caught by the group on the finish line. It was not the first time Movistar had helped to chase him when the responsibility arguably should have fallen to others.
Last year at La Vuelta, Carapaz attacked race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) on the final climb of the race and looked like he was riding to overall victory.
As Roglic was faltering badly he was aided by Movistar when they drove the pace after Carapaz, though it appeared they had nothing much to gain. That contribution helped ensure Roglic won the race overall, and Carapaz didn’t.
In Movistar’s defence, they are allowed to chase whoever they want. They also ride to win the team classification on Grand Tours. And that can result in them chasing riders at unexpected times.
