Tour de France winner Egan Bernal was fined 500 Swiss francs and lost 25 points in the UCI standings in Monday’s third stage.
Why?
The UCI’s “litter patrol” spotted the Ineos Grenadiers star tossing something away outside of the designated refuse collection zones marked out along each day’s route. Ramon Sinkeldam (Alpecin Deceuninck) and Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla) were also fined.
The 2019 Tour winner was cited in the Tour’s daily report from the UCI race jury that patrol each stage to enforce the Tour’s thick race rulebook.
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In 2021, the UCI tightened its littering rules following a backlash from scenes of riders tossing away trash, plastic wrappers, water bottles, and other refuse alongside the sometimes pristine roadways where the peloton races.
Race organizers created designated collection zones across each stage where riders are allowed to toss out refuse.
Eating on the move 🌬️
We’re into the final 40km of today’s #TDF2023 stage. Will we get that sprint finish? pic.twitter.com/zC6xN9y9n8
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) July 3, 2023
When the rules were first introduced, riders were disqualified from races for the first offense. One of the early high-profile cases saw Swiss veteran Michael Schär was kicked out of the 2021 Tour of Flanders for tossing out a water bottle just days after new rules were introduced.
The UCI has since eased the most extreme punishments, and riders are allowed to jettison bottles and other trash if they spot a team staffer alongside the road.
Tossing water bottles in the general direction of fans is now allowed. In fact, fans were putting targets and nets asking for riders to toss their bidons, which are highly prized among certain racing fans.
Serious implications remain. A second littering offense results in a one-minute time penalty, which would be very detrimental for a GC rider like Bernal. A third offense sees a rider kicked out of the race.
Litter bugs are not tolerated at the Tour de France.
Riders sometimes complain that the rules create additional danger and distraction by forcing them to try to stuff the small bits of litter into their jerseys and later dispose of them in the designated zones or at a team car.
Riders also say sometimes the race jury is wrong in dolling out the penalties, and can identify the incorrect rider.
Even with the risk of fines, trash will still be jettisoned by riders deep in the middle of the bunch where it’s harder for officials to spot them.
Despite Monday’s fine, Bernal made it through the opening three stages in very good position, ending Monday’s third stage in 18th overall at 43 seconds behind race leader Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates).
The Colombian finished in the second chase group in Bilbao in stage 1 to cede 33 seconds, and hung in the front group Sunday after making it over the Cat. 1 Jaizkibel with the favorites.
That’s a promising start for Bernal, who returns to the Tour de France for the first time since his life-threatening crash early in 2022.
Monday’s jury report also confirmed feed zone rule adjustments for stage 4, and confirmed that eight bikes were X-rayed and another 72 scanned as part of the UCI’s controls for technological fraud.
No bikes were found to have hidden motors or mechanized assistance. Now that would make some headlines.
Neilson Powless sets new US record in polka-dots
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) set a new record Monday with three days in the Tour’s King of the Mountains jersey.
Nathan Brown held the jersey for two days in 2017, and Tejay van Garderen and Taylor Phinney each held it for one day.
Greg LeMond also claimed the famous polka-dot jersey in the 1986 Tour de France, when he finished hand-in-hand with Bernard Hinault at Alpe d’Huez. Hinault later went on to win the prize, and LeMond never wore the jersey because he was also in yellow at the time.