“If this is a disqualification, then change cycling” – Giro stage winner defends Jan Christen amid online storm after Van Gils crash

Sacha Modolo has publicly defended Jan Christen following the Swiss rider’s disqualification from Clasica Jaen, pushing back against the jury decision that reshaped the podium and left Maxim Van Gils seriously injured.

Christen was disqualified after deviating across the road in the sprint for third place and sending Van Gils into the barriers, a move judged by officials to warrant the maximum sporting sanction. The decision elevated Benoit Cosnefroy to the podium and immediately triggered a wave of debate online around sprint dynamics, rider responsibility, and where the limits are now being drawn.

Modolo, a Giro d'Italia stage winner and former WorldTour sprinter, weighed in via Instagram stories as the reaction intensified. “Help me understand whether I’m getting old or I just don’t understand anymore,” Modolo wrote. “A cyclist starts wide near the barriers. Jan looks at him and moves left to get into the slipstream of the rider who started wide, not to close him off. The rider behind knows that the dynamics will carry him towards the barriers and that he won’t have space, but he stays there anyway. He touches Jan’s saddle, has his hands on it, falls, and honestly falls a bit naively, and it’s Jan’s fault?”

Modolo’s comments focused on how sprint positioning and momentum interact, questioning whether Christen’s movement should automatically be interpreted as a punishable offence rather than part of a high-speed contest for position.

The reaction has been amplified by the seriousness of Van Gils’ injuries. Medical checks after the race confirmed that the Belgian suffered a fractured pelvis in the crash, ruling him out for several months and dealing a major blow to his early-season momentum.

That development has added weight to the discussion, shifting it beyond abstract rule interpretation to the real physical cost of sprint incidents. While the jury decision at Clasica Jaen was swift and decisive, the fallout has continued to grow as riders, fans, and former professionals assess whether current enforcement reflects how sprints actually unfold.

Modolo took that argument further in a second message, suggesting that the direction of travel risks changing the sport itself. “If this is also a manoeuvre that deserves disqualification, then maybe it’s better to change cycling like in triathlon, where drafting is forbidden, or like in swimming, where from 10 km to the finish everyone stays in their own lane,” he wrote.

The Clasica Jaen decision stands in contrast to earlier incidents involving Christen this season, including episodes at the AlUla Tour that resulted in time penalties but not disqualification. In Jaen, however, the crash, the barriers, and the direct impact on another rider left officials little room to apply anything other than the harshest penalty available.

That has not prevented debate. Instead, it has crystallised a wider question about modern sprinting, responsibility, and how much latitude riders are now afforded when space disappears at speed.

With Van Gils facing months on the sidelines and Christen’s disqualification still fresh, Modolo’s intervention has ensured the conversation will not fade quickly. What remains unresolved is whether Clasica Jaen becomes a reference point for stricter enforcement or simply another flashpoint in an ongoing argument about where racing ends and rule-breaking begins.