The UCI is investigating some skullduggery at the Giro d’Italia.
The governing body revealed Friday it’s considering sanctions against Dries de Bondt and an unnamed EF Education-EasyPost director after the rider delivered a peculiar pull at the Giro d’Italia last month.
Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale rider De Bondt clearly towed rival racers Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) in the high-thrills Colle delle Finestre finale of the corsa rosa.
The two climbers were stranded and squabbling after they let Simon Yates – and their pink jersey hopes – vanish up the road.
De Bondt wasn’t shy in revealing his motivations when he spoke with Wielierflits soon after the stage.
“I still haven’t received clarity from my team whether I will be allowed to stay in 2026. So, it seemed like a good idea to market myself during the Giro,” De Bondt told the Belgian-Dutch outlet.
De Bondt further revealed to Wielierflits that he’d told EF director Ken Vanmarcke he was scrambling for a new contract.
It seemingly marked the start of some old-school cross-team collaboration – something in strict contravention of the UCI Ethical Code.
“Before the team presentation of stage 20, Vanmarcke said to me, ‘Are you planning anything today? It’s going to be very difficult for us to send riders into the early breakaway. But if you’re there and you can play a role that’s important in the final result, something serious can come from it,'” De Bondt said.
“That’s what inspired me to do what I did for Carapaz.”
‘Calls into question the integrity of the competition’
The UCI took note of what De Bondt had to say, and a fortnight later, is weighing in.
“The comments made … were clearly of a nature to call into question the integrity of the competition,” it concluded Friday.
The UCI’s Ethics watchdogs are considering a potential breach of the UCI Code of Ethics by De Bondt and the EF director, “in particular Articles 8.1 and 2 of Annex 2.”
Both De Bondt and team EF Education-EasyPost are yet to comment.
Here are the articles:
Art. 8.1 Manipulation of cycling events
Any undertakings that are aimed at or may potentially modify or influence the course or result of a competition, or any part thereof, in any manner contrary to sporting ethics, such as manipulation or corruption, is forbidden. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Code and its Appendix 2 shall be subsidiary to article 1.1.088 of the UCI Regulations with respect to matters governed by said provision.
The above shall be considered as the general rule and is supplemented by
Art. 8.2 Anti-Doping
Persons bound by the Code shall refrain from any action promoting, facilitating, associating with, or otherwise supporting behaviour or actions that contravene the provisions and the spirit of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules. For the avoidance of doubt, the application of the Code shall be subsidiary to that of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules in respect of any person bound thereto.