Thirty five riders were disqualified from Scheldeprijs (1.HC) today after they continued under a barrier at a level crossing as it was lowering.
The incident happened at Krabbendijke near the Dutch-Belgian border when the race had split into a number of echelons in cross winds. Amongst the riders who continued despite the red light at the crossing and the lowering barrier were two of the pre-race favourites, Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo).
Other riders who were disqualified included Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin), Davide Martinelli (Quick Step Floors), Kris Boeckmans (Vital Concept Club), Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport) and Ian Stannard (Team Sky).
The riders were subsequently informed of the decision to disqualify them by a race commissaire on a motorbike. Each rider was also fined 100 CHF.
The race was won by 21-year-old Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Floors) ahead of Pascal Ackermann (Bora–Hansgrohe) with Chris Lawless (Team Sky) in third.
