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Gianni Moscon cleared of charges of violent conduct

Groupama-FDJ's Seb Reichenbach accused Sky rider of intentionally causing crash

Sky took heart from one of its riders being cleared of wrongdoing on Wednesday. Gianni Moscon had been accused of making Groupama-FDJ’s Seb Reichenbach crash in last October’s Tre Valli Varesine race. Moscon escapes sanctions from the UCI disciplinary commission for violent conduct based on a lack of evidence. The incident was not caught on film.

Last season was a controversial one for Moscon. First, Moscon used racist insults against FDJ’s Kevin Reza in the Tour de Romandie, something which earned him a six-week suspension from his team. Then he was disqualified from the world championships road race for getting a tow from a car.

In April Moscon faced an 11-hour disciplinary hearing in Geneva. Among the witnesses to testify before the hearing were Sangemini rider Nicola Gaffurini and Kenny Elissonde, who was an FDJ rider at the time of the incident and joined Sky soon after.

The disturbing part of the Tre Valli Varesine story is that Reichenbach seems to think that the crash was in retaliation for his part in drawing attention to the racial abuse of Reza, who confronted the Sky man after the stage, without actually using Moscon’s name. “It’s a question of settling scores after the business with the Tweet during the Tour de Romandie,” Reichenbach told Le Nouveslliste. “That’s what sealed his internal suspension. But I hadn’t even mentioned his name.”

Moscon will most likely be part of Sky’s Tour de France line up.