Reichenbach 'deliberately pushed off' by Moscon to 'settle a score' after FDJ rider tweeted about racism case

FDJ's Sebastien Reichenbach has said that he his crash at the Tre Valli Varesine was deliberately caused by Gianni Moscon, alleging that the Italian had pushed him from his bike as retribution for a tweet that criticised the Team Sky rider for allegedly making racist comments towards Kevin Reza earlier in the season.

Reichenbach hit the deck approximately 75km in to the Tre Valli Varesine in the north of Italy on Tuesday, fracturing his elbow and also suffering a possible fracture to his hip, putting him out for the rest of the 2017 season.

Team Sky's Moscon has said that he had nothing to do with Reichenbach's crash, which he says happened when Reichenbach's hand slipped off his bars on a rough stretch of road. But the Swiss rider has already gone to the UCI and the Italian police with his version of events.

"I will file a complaint against Gianni Moscon because he deliberately threw me to the ground," Reichenbach told Swiss newspaper Le Nouvelliste.

"It was deliberate, and several riders who were at the scene and are ready to testify in my favour. He deliberately threw himself at me. On a descent the accident could have had more serious consequences."

The incident comes five months after Moscon was suspended for six weeks by Team Sky after allegedly making racist comments to Kevin Reza, a black team-mate of Reichenbach, at the Tour de Romandie.

Footage posted online showed Moscon and Reza in a heated conversation following stage three of the race, with Reichenbach appearing to refer to the incident in a tweet, which read "Shocked to hear idiots still use racist slurs in the pro peloton. You are a shame on our sport."

The Swiss rider now thinks that Moscon's apparent actions at Tre Valli Varesine were in response to this tweet.

"He was settling a score after the tweet during the Tour de Romandie which triggered his internal suspension," Reichenbach continued. "But I did not even mention his name."

After finishing the final two stages of the Tour de Romandie, Moscon was suspended by Team Sky, spending six weeks on the sidelines.

The Italian then returned to racing at the Route du Sud in June, telling reporters that his "conscience was clean" and that he was moving on from the incident.

Moscon is in the final year of a two-year contract at Team Sky, with the British WorldTour squad yet to announce if his stay will be extended despite impressing in his second year as a pro.