Lotta Henttala has refuted the claims made by the race jury that she held onto the team car during stage 6 at the Tour de France Femmes. Henttala and AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep director Servais Knaven were disqualified from the race with 70km to go in the stage to Blagnac on Friday.
Early reports indicated that Henttala and Knaven were disqualified because she hung onto the team car, and the UCI race jury later confirmed the decision in the official race communique after the stage. Both rider and director were also fined 200 CHF.
Henttala said she held onto a water bottle for a few seconds but did not hang onto the team car. Cyclingnews spoke with the team on the morning of stage 7 in Lannemezan, and they felt a fine would have been sufficient for holding onto a water bottle but not a disqualification.
"I was not feeling well, and I was empty from the earlier race days and got distanced from the peloton," Henttala explained.
"Servais was trying to help me to continue and gave me a bottle, and I held onto it for a few seconds too long than normally. However, I did not hold on to the car, as what some may have said, and it did not make any difference to my performance and my race could not continue further, unfortunately."
"I am sorry for it and won't happen again."
"Either way - I wish all the best for the AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep team! You are stronger than you think and will be so proud of you! Good luck."
The sixth stage at the Tour de France Femmes, 122.1km from Albi to Blagnac, was marked as one for the sprinters.
Henttala was distanced from the peloton at the 71km-to-go mark on the Côte de Puycelsi, a 1.9km climb with an average gradient of 6%, and continued to lose time over the Côte du Clos Pourtié, a 2.8km climb at 4.8% at 64km to go, and was then disqualified from the race.
AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep released an official statement admitting that Henttala held onto a water bottle for 10 seconds, which they regret. However, they felt that the race jury's decision to disqualify Henttala and Knaven for claims that she held onto the team car while he was driving was damaging to their reputations.
"During the race, a bidon was passed to Lotta, which both she and Servais held on to for around 10 seconds, giving Lotta as small moment of respite. It is an incident that both regret and understand it is outside the spirit of the race," the team wrote in a statement on Saturday.
"However, AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step, Servais and Lotta condemn suggestions that Lotta was allowed to hold on to the car for an extended period of time - a charge laid to them by the race jury, leading to disqualification from the race of both Lotta and Servais from the race."
"We have expressed our disappointment to the race commissioners, pointing out the injustice of their actions and the damage caused to the reputation of Lotta, Servais and the AG Insurance - Soudal Quick-Step team."
