Gerben Thijssen and Madis Mihkels (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) have apologised for making racist gestures towards Asians on their tour of Guangxi and posted them on Instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrammable instagrams.

The duo were withdrawn from the race by the team before the start and the UCI subsequently announced that the incident was referred to the Disciplinary committee.

A statement posted on both Thijssen and Mihkels' social media channels revealed that the pair accepted their expulsion from the tour of Guangxi and how they would learn from their upcoming mistakes.

"We urge all those who have offended, especially Chinese fans and all parties involved in the organization of the tour of Guangxi, to respect our actions and Asian culture

"We accept the withdrawal from the race. This error is an important life lesson for both of us, which will undoubtedly lead us to adopt a more humble attitude in the future.

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty responded quickly to racist posts and even withdrew from the race as the gesture was posted on his Instagram profile, even though he initially did not include Thijssen's withdrawal in his statement.

The pair emphasized that the harm done was not intentional, but that they realized that what they had done was wrong.

"I was honored to be invited to participate in a tour of Guangxi," the pair said. "We feel really sorry for what happened yesterday morning and realize that our social media publications were offensive and wrong," he said.

"We never intended to hurt anyone because we really feel good in a multicultural environment.

Belgian sprinter Thijssen was set to lead the team through the mostly flat 1 stage of the race in China, with Mihkels as one of his domestiques 6.In the past, their dismissal left the team with a roster of 5 riders.

The first sprint stage was won by Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadier), Jonathan Milano (Bahrain wins) 2nd and Sam Bennett (Bora Hansgrohe) 3rd.