Team Sky’s Gianni Moscon banned for five weeks by UCI after Tour de France disqualification but avoids sack

Moscon was disqualified from the Tour for an act of ‘serious aggression’ on stage 15, in which video showed him hitting Fortuneo-Samsic’s French rider Elie Gesbert

Team Sky’s Gianni Moscon has been banned for five weeks by the UCI after punching a rival rider in the face during the Tour de France.

Moscon was disqualified from the Tour for an act of “serious aggression” on stage 15, in which video showed him hitting Fortuneo-Samsic’s French rider Elie Gesbert in the peloton, the latest in a string of breaches of discipline by the Italian.

He was disqualified from the 2017 world championships for holding on to a team car and was also investigated over allegedly pushing an opponent off their bike. He admitted racially abusing French rider Kévin Réza during last year’s Tour of Romandie, earning a six-week ban and a warning from Team Sky that a repeat incident would lead to the termination of his contract.

However he has kept his role with Team Sky who believe this latest misdemeanour, while considered a serious breach of conduct, did not specifically constitute a repeat of the Réza incident.

Moscon also retains the backing of the Italian cycling federation and is set to return in time for the world championships in September.

Sir Dave Brailsford said on the rest day which followed Moscon’s disqualification that he would wait until the Tour was over to make a full assessment with his management team, while Moscon apologised to both Gesbert and his team-mates in a video message posted on social media.

Despite Sky losing one of their eight riders it had little effect on the Tour. Geraint Thomas won the yellow jersey by nearly two minutes, and Chris Froome finished third.