Well this one will come as a shock to most, cyclists are usually such an honest bunch. I mean when last did you hear about anyone in the cycling fraternity getting done for cheating in a race or, worse yet, doping like all those other disgraced athletes?

Vincenzo Nibali was competing in the Vuelta a España race when TV cameras spotted him getting a little help from one of his team cars. The Astana rider can clearly be seen to grab hold of the vehicle and zoom off ahead of the chasing pack.

Nibali and the driver of the vehicle have both been expelled from the race. CyclingNews has more:

 “The film is very clear, it shows that Nibali has put his hand on the car for 100 metres,” [head commissaire Bruno] Valcic said. “So the penalty for this is very clear. The decision of the commissaires is very clear, Vincenzo Nibali has been disqualified from the race”…

Nibali was brought down in a crash with 30 kilometres remaining in Sunday’s opening road stage, and after a lengthy wait for a replacement bike, he set off with more than a minute and a half to recoup on the peloton…

The Sicilian initially had Dario Cataldo, Diego Rosa and Alessandro Vanotti for company, and when they had exhausted themselves, Andrey Zeits dropped back to help Nibali. He bridged back to the peloton with 13 kilometres remaining, three kilometres after the incident that was captured so clearly by the television helicopter.

Astana released a statement offering up the usual heartfelt apologies about how the sport of cycling has become tarnished following the footage spreading across the internet. At least they can rest easy in the knowledge that the sport has had a black cloud hanging over it long before they let one of their prawns hitch a ride mid-race.

[source:cyclingnews]