Italian cyclist Vincenzo Nibali has been thrown off the Vuelta a Espana after he was deemed to have been towed back into the pack on Sunday. Director Javier Guillén explained the choice of the UCI commissaires. He added he respect it: "The rules are very clear."

"The decision was taken by the UCI commissaires, and [the race organisation] were contacted to let us know what they were discussing [before taking it]," Guillén told a huddle of reporters in the Vuelta’s pressroom on stage 2. "Obviously, it’s a very important decision. We’ve seen the footage, and after they had looked at all the options on the table they’ve decided to expel the rider in question. They said that in terms of the rules, they had no other choice. The rider’s action is bad for the image of cycling, and the result of [Nibali’s expulsion] is bad for the Vuelta in the sense that we’ve lost a top rider."

"But I have to respect that decision [to expel] because I think if any other decision had been taken it would have been very hard to understand and interpret. The rules are there to be obeyed, and the video footage is there. I’ve personally never seen a tow like that before. We totally respect the commissaires’ verdict and we regret the events which led to it."