Both Tinkoff’s Matteo Tosatto and Astana’s Eros Capecchi have claimed that FDJ’s Arnaud Demare held on to a team car as he tried to get back to the bunch following a crash at Milan-San Remo. He would then go on to win the race following a hectic sprint.

“Demare was off the back before the Cipressa. Then on the climb he passed us going twice our speed. I didn’t see if he was on the car window or with a (sticky) bottle. Of course he was strong in the sprint but without that tow he would never have made it to contest the sprint. I’ve never seen a thing like that done so shamelessly. I wasn’t alone at that moment, there were other riders with me and I think they saw what happened pretty well,” Tosatto told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Capecchi, speaking to the same media outlet, backed up exactly what Tosatto had said.

“Demare passed us at 80km/h on the climb. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I was on Tosatto’s wheel and saw it very clearly. Demare was hanging onto the right of the team car. It’s disgusting!”

Race judge Herve Borcque was reportedly notified of the complaints but without video or photographic evidence, no more action could be taken.

Tosatto spoke to Tuttobiciweb this morning to shed more light on the situation. The veteran Italian says he would like data to be released from the Frenchman’s bike transponder, or Demare to release data from his bike computer.

“For sure Demare is a champion and I’m sure he’s got the talent to be a great Classics rider but what I really didn’t like was what I saw yesterday,” Tosatto said. “Considering that the race judges were told about it but said they didn’t have the proof to confirm what lots of riders saw, I suggest two things: Why not use the transponder on the bike to verify the time Demare needed to climb the Cipressa. We can only see what the data says. Secondly, the French rider (Demare) could also supply the data from his bike computer to see his time for the Cipressa and the speed he was going. I’m sure it didn’t take him long…”