VN news ticker: Urán, Bilbao get warnings for banned riding positions, Steven Kruijswijk out of Tour de France

Rigoberto Urán, Pello Bilbao receive Tour de France warnings for banned riding positions

Rigoberto Urán and Pello Bilbao were both handed warnings by the Tour de France jury for the use of non-regulation positions on the bike Tuesday.

Urán had been spotted in Sunday’s Andorra stage riding with his wrists on his handlebars, a riding style that the UCI banned in a new range of measures earlier this season, but he kept his hands on the outside of his drops. Bilbao was presumably adopting a similar aero position.

Both riders were listed for contravening Article 2.2.025 of the UCI’s rulebook, which addresses non-regulation positions, in the jury report for stage 16 on Tuesday.

Riders who adopt any of the banned positions can face a fine, have UCI points docked, and be eliminated from the race.

Steven Kruijswijk fourth Jumbo-Visma Tour de France abandon

Jumbo-Visma has just four riders left in the 2021 Tour de France after Steven Kruijswijk become the latest member of the team to abandon.

The Dutch squad said Wednesday that Kruijswijk, who started stage 17, had been ill for a few days but was not getting better.

“Steven Kruijswijk abandons the Tour de France. Steven started to feel ill during the rest day and that feeling didn’t improve, unfortunately. He’ll now focus on the Vuelta a España,” Jumbo-Visma wrote on social media.

Kruijswijk joins Primož Roglič, Tony Martin, and Robert Gesink, who all abandoned during the opening two weeks of the race due to injuries sustained in crashes. The team still has Sepp Kuss, Mike Teunissen, Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard – who is currently in third place overall – in the race.

https://twitter.com/JumboVismaRoad/status/1415266876066865152?s=20