Tom Dumoulin pretends to throw bottle at Juan Pedro Lopez after Giro d'Italia dispute with Sam Oomen

Published 17/05/2022 at 12:39 GMT

There was no bad blood between Juan Pedro Lopez and Sam Oomen on Stage 10 after their mountain clash as the pair were pictured chatting at the back of the peloton. With the tension evaporated, Tom Dumoulin decided to give Lopez a taste of his own medicine by cheekily pretending to launch his bottle at the Spaniard. Lopez leads the general classification by 12 seconds from Joao Almeida.

'Last person I would expect that from!' – Dumoulin pretends to chuck bottle at Lopez

Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) could not resist poking fun at Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) after the Spaniard’s angry bottle throw at the Giro d’Italia on Sunday.

An emotional Lopez apologised for launching a bidon at Sam Oomen, Dumoulin’s team-mate, after the pair had a small coming together ahead of the final climb on Stage 9.

“Before any questions, I want to say sorry to Sam Oomen because in one moment of tension, he tried to push me and I lost my mind and threw a bottle at him,” said Lopez. “I want to say sorry.”

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It all appeared to be forgotten when the race returned after the second rest day, with the pair pictured in amiable conversation on the run to Jesi on Tuesday.

“This is nice, look at that. They’re made up again now,” said Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary.

But Dumoulin was keen to dredge up old wounds as he pulled alongside Lopez with a big grin before cheekily recreating the incident – although this time the bottle did not leave his grasp.

“He knows the score!” yelled Hatch. “He is usually Mr Serious, Tom Dumoulin, so that was refreshing.”

Watch shocking moment leader Lopez hurls bottle at Giro rival

Dumoulin, the 2017 Giro champion, is chasing stage wins for the remainder of the Giro after leaking a huge chunk of time in the mountains. The 31-year-old is over 18 minutes adrift of Lopez in the general classification.

“That was brilliant and the last person in the peloton I would expect that from,” said Adam Blythe.

Ahead of Stage 10, Lopez led the race for the maglia rosa by 12 seconds from Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) after seeing his lead slashed on the menacing Blockhaus – but he avoided punishment for his flash of anger.

“Juanpe Lopez was really emotional in his interview afterwards and it was a straight-up apology, maybe that apology avoided any sort of punishment,” continued Hatch.

Blythe added: “It was good though. He’s such a sweet person, he looks kind and really genuine, you can see that from his interview.

“But that was after he had thought about it…In the heat of the moment, I love that little bit of aggression by him. The real bike rider in him came out, it was brilliant."

Lopez is next expected to come under attack from his GC rivals on Thursday.