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| - The International Cycling Union (UCI) on Monday called for sanctions against sprinter Nacer Bouhanni after the Frenchman was disqualified at the Cholet-Pays de Loire race. The UCI "strongly condemned the dangerous conduct" of Bouhanni in the sprint finish of Sunday's race following his shouldering of Jake Stewart into the crash barriers. The 30-year-old was disqualified after he went on to finish third behind Italian winner Elia Viviani. "The UCI has decided to refer the incident to its disciplinary commission and to request the imposition of sanctions commensurate with the seriousness of the alleged act," the UCI said. Stewart posted a video of the incident on Twitter with a furious comment. "Yo @BouhanniNacer I would ask you what you was thinking...but you clearly have no brain cells. The ironic thing is, you told me I had 'no respect' after the finish. Here's an educational video of what 'no respect' looks like..." The British rider's team Groupama-FDJ were more restrained, tweeting: "On the wheel of Elia Viviani with 200 meters to go, Jake Stewart was blocked against the barrier when he started his sprint. The Briton managed, by chance, to stay on his bike." Bouhanni, who rides for Arkea-Samsic, has 69 victories, including three Giro d'Italia stages and three in the Vuelta a Espana, but the his career has been marked by altercations. On 2017 Tour de France, he was fined for hitting New Zealander Jack Bauer and later that season he had to be pulled off compatriot Rudy Barbieri who had just won Paris-Bourges. He also reportedly once fought with his team director after dropping out of a race. jm/dif/pb/td
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