A surprise announcement came from the Tour Down Under on Sunday, with an updated communique announcing that Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) was disqualified from the race.
Lopez received an extended tow from a Shimano neutral assistance motorbike while taking a bidon, and the race jury made the decision to penalise him after reviewing video of the incident.
Lidl-Trek issued a statement about the decision, stating, "Lidl-Trek has received notice from the Tour Down Under race jury that Juan Pedro López has been removed from the race ahead of the final stage due to irregular feeding on Stage 5.
"Lidl-Trek accepts and respects the jury’s decision on this matter."
Lopez was also fined CHF 500 and docked 100 UCI points for the offence.
Lopez apologised via social media.
"I want to say sorry to everyone for my action yesterday," he wrote in a message.
"I made a stupid decision in the heat of the race and regret it a lot I take responsibility for my mistake and will learn from it."
