NSN Cycling Team, which competes in the UCI WorldTeam, have sent a statement regarding one of their cyclists, 24-year-old New Zealander Kiaan Watts, who punched a rival cyclist, and was caught by TV cameras. “NSN Development Team deeply regrets the actions of Kiaan Watts. The team expects that its riders race in a sporting a professional manner at all times”.
The video went viral on social media, with many expressing their shock and disgust to Watts’ actions, which are not only unsportsmanlike, also dangerous.
Watts hit a rival, Marijn Maas from BEAT CC p/b Saxo, in the head. The NSN team also expressed their apologies to Maas. It happened during a race in the Netherlands with development teams. According to the UCI list from the event, seen by road.cc, the cyclist was disqualified.
NSN Cycling, the team formarly known as Israel-Premier Tech, added that they have removed Kiaan from their next race on Sunday “to give him time to reflect on his actions and the consequences”.
