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@andyp
I think disqualification is harsh. His use of the head was a bit out of order but Dean was definitely trying to move him left and block Cavendish so he was right to defend his position. His move after the sprint started to block Farrar was out of order though. The commissaires should have relegated him to last place on the stage, fined him and warned him to his future conduct. Dean should have got a similar penalty in my view as he moved off his line deliberately.
The sprint had a tailwind so going for a long one is less risky and Petacchi has beaten Cavendish a couple of times by going early, both in last year's Giro, so maybe Cavendish thought he'd surprise Petacchi and go sooner than expected. It worked.