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SD Worx sport director Danny Stam has thrown shade at the UCI jury after it handed a 20-second penalty to GC favorite Demi Vollering for drafting.
Vollering had a puncture with just over 60 kilometers to go and stopped to pick up a new wheel. After resuming the race, she slotted behind her team vehicle — which was being driven by Stam — and entered into the convoy of team vehicles on the left.
A motorbike commissaire could be seen waving Stam off to the right of the road from behind the car. Once Vollering had passed the vehicle, the commissaire then drove up alongside the car and remonstrated with Stam through the closed window.
“It’s totally ridiculous that someone punctures and you bring them back to the caravan and you pass a couple of cars and then you pass to the side and then you get punished with 20 seconds,” Stam said after the stage.
“I think also that the UCI thinks they’re always right but they also need to look in the mirror and think about what is the race. I don’t think it made a difference in a final like this but then we could lose the Tour de France by five seconds. I think if the decision is made by someone who is in a car and probably was never on the bike then I’m pretty disappointed.”
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Stam and fellow sport director Anna van der Breggen went to see the UCI jury and appeal the decision, but it was rejected. Riders can sometimes get away with a short amount of drafting, but punishments can range from a time penalty — of which 20 seconds is the smallest — and disqualification from the race.
Earlier this season James Knox (Soudal Quick-Step) was thrown out of the Tour Down Under for drafting behind a vehicle after he crashed and had to undergo a concussion check before he was allowed to continue.
“I think it’s a ridiculous punishment for something that is not in her eyes and our eyes fair. If you look to the men’s Tour de France you see this happen daily and it can be a decision who wins the Tour de France. I hope that the UCI looks in the mirror on Sunday and it’s the right winner and if it was in a fair way,” Stam said.
A net 12-second loss
After gaining eight seconds on her main GC rival Annemiek van Vleuten in Wednesday’s stage to Rodez, the 20-second penalty now means that Vollering has a net loss of 12 seconds to her compatriot. It sees her slip down five positions in the GC standings with Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio now the next in line for yellow behind Lotte Kopecky.
The top GC contenders are still tightly packed at the top with Moolman-Pasio at 49 seconds while Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma, and Van Vleuten are all on 51, and Vollering is now back at 1:03.
“I hope it doesn’t change that much. In the end, it’s the Tour and if you lose the Tour because of this then you’re not happy. You work so hard for your dreams and then this happens to you and this is the reason you lose then it will be really a sad story,” an emotional Vollering said as she warmed down on her rollers. “This is the first time I had anything like this, so I have no idea. It feels a bit strange to be honest.”
Vollering struck a sad figure as she later sat in the small pool that SD Worx had set up outside the bus at the finish for riders to use to aid their recovery. As the team bustled about to tidy up after the stage and prepare for the following day, she stared off into the distance.
“I don’t know what I did wrong. I need to hear it from the jury to tell me what I did wrong because I don’t know,” Vollering said. “I have no clue. The first part I went behind the car but then once Danny took his place in the caravan I went directly around. Also, because there was no place at first we were on the left side I could not pass when the cars were two riders next to each other. I did not want to pass because it was so dangerous there was no place.
“Maybe I should have passed there. I have no clue why there was this penalty. I never knew it was forbidden to come after a mechanical. The last bit I did all by myself so I don’t understand. Later, Danny came more to the front with a bottle, and I took two bottles with me and then I jumped together with Christine back to the bunch.”
There is still the Tourmalet and a time trial to come at the weekend that could see the gaps grow far bigger. However, there is a chance that the 20-second penalty could prove crucial in deciding who is crowned the overall winner.