French Cyclist Fined for Heartwarming Mid-Stage Kiss with Wife and Son at Tour de France

DIJON, France (Velo) — Julien Bernard soaked up the crowds on home roads in Friday’s Tour de France time trial and even stopped for a moment during the stage to kiss his wife and child.

The touching moment was a hit for thousands of cheering fans alongside the road, but the UCI race jury did not take kindly to outpouring of emotion in the middle of the race.

The UCI jury cited rule Article 2.12.007-8.6 and fined him 200CHF for “unseemly or inappropriate behavior during the race and damage to the image of sport,” but sources said the citation was in part because Bernard briefly stopped during the stage to visit family.

The Lidl-Trek rider told ITV that he pushed extra-hard in the opening part of the 25.3km time trial so he would have plenty of time to stop for a quick visit and still make it safely within the time cut.

“I knew my wife and my friends did something on the climb, and I was looking forward to seeing them,” Bernard told ITV. “I wanted to enjoy every second on this climb and I started quite fast the TT, and I wanted to enjoy everyone second with my friend and family. It was dream moment for me.”

Bernard lives and trains in the region, and hit the crowd-lined climb midway through the course waving to the fans and doing high-fives with family and friends lining the route.

The 32-year-old rode into a wall of cheering fans and even stopped briefly to kiss his wife and two-year-old son before pedaling on.

“I pushed a different power at the start to have the time to enjoy this moment. Normally I would go quite conservative on the TT, and I pushed quite hard to have this time on the top,” Bernard said.

“Since I saw the parcours since last November I knew it would pass my training road. It would be a challenge to be on the Tour with such a competitive team,” he said. “It was a perfect day for me.”

Tour stage-winner Vauquelin fined

Kevin Vauquelin, a stage-winner in stage 2 at the Tour de France, was also fined for an incident in stage 6.

The UCI jury did not say what happened, but it said it reviewed replays from Thursday’s stage before handing down a sanction.

The jury fined him 500CHF and penalized him 20 points in UCI for “assault, intimidation, insults, threats, incorrect behaviour (including pulling the jersey or saddle of another rider, blow with the helmet, knee, elbow, shoulder, foot or hand, etc.), or behaviour that is indecent or that endangers others.”