Deceuninck-QuickStep team boss Patrick Lefevere exchanged words with Trek-Segafredo boss Luca Guercilena over Sam Bennett's second sprint win at the Vuelta a España.

After the Italian defended his rider, the outspoken Belgian coach clashed with Guercilena on the Twitter social media site, with Lefebvre asking, perhaps with Flemish-flavored sarcasm (grammar corrected - ed) - "@l_guercilena is ( Liepens) how many sprints he won?

He was initially declared the winner of stage 9 and interviewed by the race organizers, but shortly afterwards the commissaires reviewed video footage of Bennett's actions near the finish line in Aguilar del Campeau and made a different decision.

After 30 minutes of deliberation, they ruled that Bennett's double-shouldered dive into the lee pince, which collided with the lead group of Detuninck-Quickstep with about 1 km to go, was overly aggressive. [But Lefebvre strongly disagreed, stating on Twitter: "He was in the lead group and the Trek riders tried to pull him away. But we have known for years the incompetence of the UCI (Video Assisted Referee = VAR).

He then added:" Lead-outs should be respected and @Sammmy_Be defended his line."

His vehement response was later bitterly defended by Trek Segafredo boss Guercilena: "Just as you mentioned the Trek Segafredo players, I will respond. Let me be clear: First of all, he was taken off the Ackerman[n] wheel by your lead-out. The TV footage is sufficient; there is no need for VAR at all."

Lefebvre then countered:" How many times has @l_guercilena won a sprint?"

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Bennett, the clear winner of stage 4, the only sprint stage in the Vuelta with the elimination of the opening Dutch section, was the leading contender for the stage win five days later.

In a short but intense sprint battle with Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Bennett quickly moved ahead and won by more than half a lap.

Sprint opportunities were truly rare in this year's Vuelta, and Bennett explained that this victory was his 50th career win, his fourth in Spain in over two years, and that it was the 100th Grand Tour stage win for his team, adding to his pride and joy.

But Bennett is supposed to have said of the events before the sprint: "I had to come from behind at speed. It was a big fight and some riders tried to take the wheel and almost got stuck in the barriers.

Bennett himself, looking determined, was shown on television calmly but clearly discussing the incident with the commissaire.

A similar act occurred on stage 11 of the Tour de France when Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) bumped shoulders with Uout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma), with the Slovakian finishing second behind Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal) and ahead of Bennett who finished ahead of him. Sagan's move, however, came in a very different context: the last few meters of a high-speed group sprint.

The incident sparked debate on social media, with Lefebvre later posting a scathing comment that he was "very pleased with the Twitter appraisers."

"I watched the video afterwards and it was just too bad. After all the falls in the last few weeks, you have to take care of the other riders," Ackerman claimed. Bennett also mentioned his own disqualification for jumping into the pack in the final sprint and causing a huge crash.

With few flat stages in this year's Vuelta, Bennett will have to wait until the final day in Madrid for the third and final group sprint of the race. It is a chance to follow up his victory on the Champs-Élysées with wins in two European capitals in one season, and it is also the Irishman's only opportunity to set a record on the bike after Thursday's tumultuous finish.

The UCI issued a belated statement on the demotion: "The UCI Commissaires' Committee has demoted Sam Bennett (Desseuninck-Quick Step) for pushing another rider with 500m to go in stage 9 of La Vuelta. The unanimous decision, based on television footage, was made as a sanction under UCI Rule 2.12.007 for "deviation from the chosen line or irregular sprinting. Both the rider and the team's sporting director were heard by the panel.