Renshaw (right) head-butting Dean (left) - screenshot France 2 TelevisionIt's an image that has made sports headlines around the world; the sight of a cyclist head-butting a competitor as the two approached the finishing line in a stage of this year's Tour de France.
It happened on Thursday at the end of the 84.5-kilometre ride from Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence in the 11th stage of this year's race.
As the riders jostled for position for the final sprint, Australian Mark Renshaw (team HTC Columbia) quite literally head-butted New Zealander Julian Dean (team Garmin) not once but three times, as he cleared a path for the eventual stage winner, his HTC Columbia team mate Britain's Mark Cavendish.
After reviewing what had happened race officials decided to throw Renshaw out of the Tour.
"This is cycling not wrestling," course director Jean-Francois Pescheux said on announcing the decision.
"There are rules to respect and his behaviour was unacceptable."
Renshaw's reaction to his exclusion was one of disbelief and disappointment.
“I never imagined I would be removed from any race, especially the Tour de France, AP quoted the 27-year-old as saying.
" I pride myself on being a very fair, safe and a straight-up sprinter, and never in my career have I received a fine or even a warning.”
Dean was surprised at Renshaw's behaviour especially as the two riders had ironically been team mates at Credit Agricole in 2006 and 2007.
"He wasn't like that when we rode together," Dean said afterwards.
"But it's not the first time we've seen this sort of thing," he added.
"It has already happened several times on this year's Tour."
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