ONCE boss expelled from Vuelta
Manager of the ONCE-Eroski team Manolo Saiz has been expelled from the Tour of Spain for cursing at a television reporters on live TV.
Saiz, riding in a car, became livid in Friday's 19th stage when he thought a motorcycle camera crew for Spanish national television was helping Roberto Heras launch an attack on race leader Isidro Nozal of ONCE-Eroski.
Saiz used extremely abusive language as he threatened and screamed at the crew, who recorded his every word.
He passed the pack of cyclists and blocked the motorcycle crew against the race barriers for a while.
Saiz, who has a history of tamper tantrums with sporting officials, was expelled from the race and fined 800 Swiss francs (€515) by the tour's jury.
He later apologised but insisted the TV crew had indeed acted improperly.
The newspaper El Mundo said Saiz's language was so foul it could not print all of it "because children, too, read newspapers."
Saiz's outburst came at a terrible time for the team. One of its main sponsors, ONCE, the National Organisation of Blind Spaniards, announced in August it is ending their 15-year relationship with the team at the end of this year.
