NSN Cycling Team, which competes in the UCI WorldTeam, have published 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.
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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 formerly 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".