Photo-finish controversy continues: Lotto-Dstny calls for proof after Caleb Ewan loses out

Lotto-Dstny is calling for evidence in the aftermath of the GP Monseré photo-finish controversy.

The Belgian team won’t rest easy until it has the proof that Caleb Ewan lost out in his millimeter sprint with Gerben Thijssen.

“Please note, we are not filing a complaint with the UCI. We just want to see an image of the photo-finish, the photo that was viewed by the competition jury and used to determine the winner,” team CEO Stéphane Heulot told Het Nieuwsblad.

The low-ranked Belgian race shot to the headlines this weekend when a to-the-wire sprint looked to have gone to Ewan only for the jury to rule otherwise.

Also read: Did the jury get the photo-finish wrong? Caleb Ewan thinks so

Ewan and officials on the ground were so certain the Aussie speedster had won that he’d already conducted his winner’s interview when Thijssen was told to top the podium.

With only sketchy images available and Ewan calling out the race jury, Lotto-Dstny wants the proof it lost out on an early season score and significant stack of UCI points.

“[Our team director] didn’t get to see an image of a photo of the photo finish. Apparently there was a problem with the computer,” Heulot said Tuesday. “I simply ask if we can still view that photo finish in question. This way we have proof that our rider was rightly placed second.”

The palaver has now been passed to the Belgian Federation and UCI.

“We only want proof that the competition management rightly designated Thijssen as the winner,” Heulot said. “If so, I have no problem with that. We just want clarity.”

Here’s another one. If anyone’s got photo of big G clearly beating me it would actually make me feel a bit better to be honest🙈 pic.twitter.com/Zko46pUQI6

— Caleb Ewan (@CalebEwan) March 5, 2023