"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Rider booted from the Tour Down Under - here's the video

You can fast forward the video to about the 80% mark and you'll see the headbutt that got him disqualified

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/tour_down_under_stage_four_video_article_175972.html?aff=rss

News here:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/jan08/jan25news2

Wow...that really did look like he was trying to take that guy out. Anyone know why? Was there bad blood between the two of them? Did the guy who threw the headbutt even know who was coming up on him?

Wow, that was ****ed up. Definitely looked intentional.

Here are some headbutt stills from my Tour Down Under Dashboard (http://www.steephill.tv/tour-down-under/):

http://www.steephill.tv/2008/tour-down-under/stage-4-headbutt.jpg

Wow, seems like you could press legal charges for assault & battery for something like that. Not sure how that works in Australian races, but he did break the guys collar bone.

I was wondering how a headbutt would take out a good rider, even one looking back a bit (although it appears that he wasn't looking back).

I realized how it was possible after watching the clip - his headbutt pushed Hayman's shoulder forward just a bit, causing the bar to move forward just a bit. Hayman must have been weighting his left arm enough so the bars moved (instead of his shoulder just taking the blow). Countersteering in action, his bike leans that way (to the left) pretty aggressively and he falls off. No way to avoid falling once he got hit.

Talk about being on a black list. That Milram guy will get payback at some point.

cdr

To me it looked like Rigotto had more speed than Hayman and as the headbutt happened, his head swiped Hayman's left arm forward a bit, too, which would have turned the bars.

Either way, it sucks.

To me it looked like Rigotto had more speed than Hayman and as the headbutt happened, his head swiped Hayman's left arm forward a bit, too, which would have turned the bars.
you cannot be serious! No doubt it was deliberate. That was a headbutt McEwen would have been proud of.

you cannot be serious! No doubt it was deliberate. That was a headbutt McEwen would have been proud of.

definitely deliberate.

Talk about being on a black list. That Milram guy will get payback at some point.
cdr

In most sports a long suspension would be inorder to help prevent a big payback, but cycling, as we all know, isn't as well run as other sports.

Throwing in Headbutt intervls into today's workout.
s s

That was a headbutt McEwen would have been proud of.


In most sports a long suspension would be inorder to help prevent a big payback, but cycling, as we all know, isn't as well run as other sports.

Actually, I don't think McEwen would be proud of that headbutt. His "headbutts" are typically moves to stay upright, i.e. leaning on someone without taking his hands off his bars. Okay, yes, he is moving laterally on the road, but if I jumped through a tiny gap and found myself starting to lean on someone, I'd have to do something to keep from falling over. If he took his hands of the bars, instant DQ. I think McEwen prides himself on being a relatively clean rider - his jumping around in the field typically don't take out his competition, instead he goes through gaps that barely (but do) exist.

Of course I don't know him and he doesn't know me but that's my read on him.

On the second bit - I remember watching an IROC race on TV and that guy who looks like he has the nose/glasses/mustache prank thing on, Rahal?, he nudges Mario Andretti pretty hard and spins him out. Rahal takes the win. After the race they interview Andretti and he is pissed. Andretti pointed out that it's supposed to be a fun series, he was in the lead, and there was no need to resort to the bump and grind that Rahal did. And, he pointed out, it was a long season and that Rahal would get what he deserved. I remember that distinctly because my first thought was the Indy 500 - a little wiggle, "unintentional", and that would be enough to mess up someone's day.

To Rahal's credit, at least the nudge was as gentle as necessary to spin Andretti. Not a slam the wheel to the side to ram someone like Michael Schumacher did in desperation when he knew he'd lose. Twice. (For the record, one time it worked and Damon Hill flipped or something and that was the end of Hill's challenge, and the other time, somehow Jacques Villeneuve managed to keep going, got passed by the two McLaren teammates on the last turn, but managed to get the points necessary to win the driver's championship).

Still though, that Milram guy is going to be totally paranoid about watching his back. I would guess he won't be racing in Holland too much (Rabobank) or in Australia (Hayman).

cdr

definitely deliberate.

+1 and the fact that it happened so far from the line and not in a big bunch sprint. Just out of no where then boom.

Reminds me of this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF4iWIE77Ts).

He shouldn't have been in the way of the head.

Interesting tidbit on CyclingNews:

Australian Mathew Hayman (Rabobank) has said he doesn't believe the head-but which left him with a broken collarbone in Friday's Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under was malicious, despite a commissaire describing the incident as "very, very vicious". Hayman was knocked to the ground by Italian Elia Rigotto (Team Milram), who became the first rider to be ejected from the tour following the incident.

"I don't believe it was malicious - we race together all the time," said a sympathetic Hayman. "I heard he's pretty upset and I really feel for him."

Rigotto admitted he wept in his room for two hours after the incident on Friday afternoon, before booking a flight home. The Italian decided to leave Australia first thing on Saturday morning, rather than wait until his squad leaves on Monday.

"I cried two hours," Rigotto told La Gazzetta Dello Sport. "I have been a cyclist for 18 years and never done anything wrong.

"I tried to evade him and I lost balance - I hurt him," added the rider. "I'm concerned about Hayman. Immediately after I went to [Graeme] Brown to apologise."

Despite his remorse, Rigotto believes his exclusion from the entire race was harsh, a sentiment even Hayman agreed with. Rigotto became the first rider in the Tour Down Under's 10 years to be thrown off the entire race, with the most severe punishment previously handed down being exclusion from selected stages.

"It's a shame he's gone home," said Hayman. "Everybody wants to come to Australia and it's a shame to leave that way."

Hayman, who hadn't yet seen the television footage from the accident, said he would have a letter written to him in Italian by Rigotto translated last night. The Australian doesn't expect there to be any bad blood between them in the future.

"You know, we've race together all these years and I've hardly spoken to him - but we will probably talk now," added Hayman. "I'm not going to be looking for him in an alley in the near future."

Hayman underwent a successful operation on Friday evening to have a plate and screws inserted into his shoulder to help the broken left collarbone heal quicker. The rider is expected to return to the bike late next week.

Good for Hayman. That's an excellent road to take in resolving this situation, even if he's the one on the ground. Have to have respect for him.

Coach Troy just released a new Spinervals video..... Throwing Headbutts 1.0

Hayman, who hadn't yet seen the television footage from the accident, said he would have a letter written to him in Italian by Rigotto translated last night. The Australian doesn't expect there to be any bad blood between them in the future.

I wonder if Hayman's attitude will change once he sees the footage?

I wonder if Hayman's attitude will change once he sees the footage?
I don't know about Hayman, but my attitude did change: I read about a vicious headbutt, but I've just seen a video of a guy who seems to have been nudged from behind/left as he was going past Hayman, and tried to lean into him to stay upright.
Are there any better videos of this incident?