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Hannah Barnes reinstated as winner of London Nocturne

Last updated on .From the section Cyclingcomments36

Laura Trott (centre) celebrates victory with Dani King (left) and Hannah Barnes

Hannah Barnes has been reinstated as winner of the IG London Nocturne,external-link following a review by British Cycling.

Laura Trott, who finished second in a photo finish, was originally awarded victory after Barnes was demoted a place for dangerous riding.

"Officials have reviewed the sanction imposed on Hannah Barnes. The sanction has been moderated from relegation to a reprimand," said a statement.

Trott earlier admitted she should not have been awarded the victory.

She took to Twitter on Saturday to tell followers: "Having seen the video, Hannah won fair and square. Fair play to her."

She added: "When myself and Hannah crossed the line it was tight and my transponder picked up first. That is why I was called the winner, before the photo finish was checked.

"That's bike racing for you! Can't win them all. Now I think it's time to put that one behind us and continue growing women's cycling."

Barnes also took to Twitter to thank supporters after the decision was reversed: "Huge thank you to everyone for your support.

"Thank you to Laura [Trott] and Wiggle-Honda for a fantastic race and I look forward to racing with you again soon.

"And also to the commissaries and organisers for revising the decision. It's such an enjoyable race and the atmosphere is always electric!"

Barnes had earlier described the decision to deny her victory for contesting the sprint dangerously as "crazy".

Organisers issued a statement several days after the race confirming Barnes did cross the line first, but that she had broken the rules by celebrating while close to riders who were being lapped.

"The photo finish shows that I won," she told BBC Sport.

"But there's some kind of regulation that you can't take both arms off handlebars to win, which is crazy because every single cyclist does that when they win a race. I don't think it's over."

A statement from Barnes's team, MG-Maxifuel Pro Cycling, said: "Hannah and the team are truly touched by the huge support they have received from fans everywhere on this matter."

Rochelle Gilmore, Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling team manager, added: "We were delighted with what we understood was a narrow win for Laura Trott, but on discovering that Hannah Barnes had crossed the line first, we felt the decision to relegate her was harsh.

"We totally accept the reversal of this decision and offer our full and sincere congratulations to Hannah for an excellent win."

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36 comments

  • Comment posted by U14966550, at 14:48 15 Jun 2013

    Thankfully, as I predicted yesterday, the backlash against this decision has left the organisers little choice but to correctly reinstate Hannah Barnes as the winner. It's just a shame that she was robbed of her moment on top of the podium.

  • Comment posted by U10354322, at 13:48 15 Jun 2013

    lets not make this about Laura Trott. Silly decision by the judges. to DQ Barnes and they have made it look dodgy by not telling Barnes she was DQ'd. Barnes is a good rider and could probably do with the prize money

  • Comment posted by Buggleskelly Wednesday, at 15:20 15 Jun 2013

    What about a reprimand for the Blazers that got it so wrong in the first place?

  • Comment posted by mrmjvc, at 14:55 15 Jun 2013

    Well said Trott but this is about the judges not her.

  • Comment posted by U3827774, at 18:21 16 Jun 2013

    Lol....moderated from relegation to a reprimand....can they still not admit they were wrong?...Cancellara didn't get a reprimand for his finish in the Paris-Roubaix and he he took off his hands for a lot longer and overtook riders while doing so...Nice to see the correct winner but still think the organisers are wrong...

  • Comment posted by TheLardMeister, at 03:59 16 Jun 2013

    Well done to the organisers/BC and the commissaries for getting this sorted. Funny excuse about the photo finish - results from these come in faster than the spotters at all the races I have helped run.
    No matter Hannah deserved it a big congratulations to her, look forward to a one handed salute at the next one!

  • Comment posted by Chris Walker, at 22:42 15 Jun 2013

    It's really nice to see this. Not only has justice been done, but mistakes have been admitted with true grace. Very rare these days, and virtually non-existent in men's bike racing.

  • Comment posted by nigethelegend, at 19:43 15 Jun 2013

    Common sense has prevailed for once, Yay!!!!! Good sportswomanship from both girls as well

  • Comment posted by U14932513, at 17:23 15 Jun 2013

    Great decision! Right decision! Pathetic in the first place to demote her. When has any rider in any grand Tour been demoted because of a celebration. Idiots! Well done Hannah!

  • Comment posted by U15690032, at 15:53 15 Jun 2013

    Reprimanded for winning? Like most sports, cycling is governed by muppets.

  • Comment posted by Cminor, at 15:45 15 Jun 2013

    @3
    I guess they opened it up for comment so that those, like you and I, who wish to comment can comment!
    Well done to both cyclists and both teams.

  • Comment posted by U14797313, at 15:16 15 Jun 2013

    "We totally accept the reversal of this decision and offer our full and sincere congratulations to Hannah for an excellent win."

    Well said Trott and her team. With positive behaviour like that cycling has a chance to recover from the Livestrong debacle!

  • Comment posted by Cheesyboy, at 11:07 17 Jun 2013

    So.... Trott's transponder (incorrectly) gets picked up as first, so she gets given the win. Next, Barnes and her team complain and the photo-finish is examined - she crossed first.

    So, what do the officials do? Demote the high-profile declared winner, or come up with a spurious reason to avoid giving low-profile Barnes the win? Hmmm...

    Glad to see it straightened out.

  • Comment posted by U14737487, at 06:16 17 Jun 2013

    I haven't seen any of the footage, but it seems like the commissaires were trying to invent reasons to justify retaining an incorrectly declared result. Glad that the teams and riders handled it with such good grace.

  • Comment posted by TheLardMeister, at 05:43 17 Jun 2013

    Never realised there was an option with the photo finish in terms of operation etc. BC supply the ones we use as a package and for such clear wins they would decide off the high mount video not the special shot as per athletics.
    Result would have been very quick to get. For this race I think they were using transducers so might have been that? Well done Hannah

  • Comment posted by Rapha boy, at 17:09 16 Jun 2013

    @14 why bring in the gender of the judges? Are you insinuating a male judge did this because Barne's is female? Weren't all the riders female?

  • Comment posted by U14568828, at 08:11 16 Jun 2013

    Doesn't look good on Cookson's CV this does it.

  • Comment posted by Keithkthkth, at 18:57 15 Jun 2013

    @ number 8. Cycling recover from the Livestrong debacle? Please don't confuse the charity with the man.

  • Comment posted by U15034947, at 18:45 15 Jun 2013

    LT's tweet implies the decision was made by transponder results alone
    Clearly these gadgets are fallible & I am amazed that there was no photo-finish equipment at such a high-profile event
    The attempt by the commissars to 'cover-their-tails', by making-up a dodgy DQ decision should be investigated by the UCI (or BC)

    Right result eventually
    Will they bring back the crowd for the new presentation?

  • Comment posted by Le Petit Fusil, at 18:16 15 Jun 2013

    #15 & #17
    Yes, and with no sponsors there would be no professional teams or races.

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