Race leader Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) was accused of causing a crash in the closing stages of the second stage of the Tour of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday when he appeared to make contact with NTT Pro Cycling's Reinard Janse van Rensburg with his arms raised He was accused of causing the crash.

The incident occurred with just over 10km remaining in the flat stage and caused a considerable pile-up in the peloton, which included Mark Cavendish.

Video replays show that Janse van Rensburg moved to the left and made contact before Costa could get his arm out.

"It's not fair anyway. Hands must stay on the handlebars," Gasparotto wrote on Twitter (opens in new tab) along with a video of the accident.

NTT teammate Roman Kreuziger wrote the same: "I don't think it's right to use your hands, even if you have the leader jersey, I hope the UCI sees this video."

Rui Costa then addressed the controversy in a social media post of his own, claiming that Janse van Rensburg continued to run beside him and only raised his arms to protect himself from the threat of hitting him.

"I am saddened about the on-stage crash of a fellow NTT member.

"I want to clarify that it was van Rensberg himself who accidentally came to my side and that my gesture was to protect myself from the crash.

"After the stage, Van Rensburg came to our bus himself and made it clear that this happened because his teammate touched him.

"Everything is clear for both of us and I hope (it is) clear for everyone. Thanks for your support.

Janse van Rensburg and Gasparotto finished more than five minutes behind Costa and the main group, in sixth and fourth at the back of the pack.

"Fortunately everything seems to be fine. I have some soreness here and there as usual, but no broken bones. Let's see how the night goes," Gasparotto said.

NTT Pro Cycling has not released any updates on Janse van Rensburg.