Former Australian cyclist Mark Renshaw has looked back on the incident that got him disqualified from the 2010 Tour de France.
Renshaw was kicked off the Tour for headbutting New Zealand rider Julian Dean during the sprint finish of stage 11 to Bourg-les-Valence.
“It kind of defined my career. A lot of people say that I’m a calm, relaxed kind of guy,” Renshaw told This Is Your Sporting Life thanks to Tobin Brothers Funerals
“In that exact moment, in cycling – and especially in sprinting – you can’t take your hands off the handlebars. The only way to move somebody is to move them with your head or your shoulder.
“At the moment Julian Dean, the Kiwi rider, he was riding for Garmin. Their sole objective was to try and get over the top of me and I suppose you could call it blocking.
“He got the better of me that day for the first time in the Tour and I wasn’t going to let it slide, so I thought the only way I could move him was with a headbutt.
“The first one didn’t move him, the second one moved him and then I was that angry I was like, ‘I’m just going to give you a third headbutt, I’m so angry here.’
“It wasn’t until about 20 seconds after the finish line when I realised this is going to go pretty pear shaped here. It did go downhill pretty quick.”
Renshaw announced his retirement from pro cycling in 2019.