"UCI doing UCI things": Disbelief as Tour de France pro fined for "inappropriate behaviour" after stopping to kiss wife during time trial

ubercurmudgeon wrote:

200 Swiss francs is under 200 quid. It is a slap on the wrist for a technical infraction of a legitimate rule, because stopping could cause an obstruction for following riders. 

If the fans weren't all over the road there wouldn't be an obstruction. I've nver understood why a sea of people on the racing track is tolerated with the usually (but not always) parting just in time for the cyclist.

This is the issue that needs addressing.

ubercurmudgeon wrote:

 It is a slap on the wrist for a technical infraction of a legitimate rule, because stopping could cause an obstruction for following riders. 

No it isn't a "technical infraction of a legitimate rule" because there isn't a rule saying that a rider can't stop and greet family, something that has always been accepted. That's why the UCI has had to fall back on fining him for "unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport", when it's quite clear that there was nothing unseemly or inappropriate about his behaviour and the general consensus is that it enhanced, if anything, the image of the sport. It's perfectly clear that some suit at the UCI has taken offence for goodness knows what reason and desperately looked for some way to punish the rider, there was no legitimate rule with which to punish him so they've grasped at saying he damaged the image of the sport, which is clearly nonsense.

And even if there was a technical infraction, that argument would only wash if the UCI's officials were even remotely consistent in enforcing the rules the rest of the time, instead of picking and choosing when to apply them seemingly more or less at random.

 if the UCI's UK police and court system officials were even remotely consistent in enforcing the rules the rest of the time, instead of picking and choosing when to apply them seemingly more or less at random

Up here, the police use their power to mostly ignore road traffic offences and only choose to prosecute and enforce against people they don't like- which is mostly people who annoy them and waste police time by reporting such offences. I'm sure they would 'do for me' if they got the chance, but haven't yet managed to achieve this aim.

ubercurmudgeon wrote:

... but an important principle in sport is equal penalties regardless of outcome.

And yet Magnus Cort's video above from a couple of days earlier proves that's not what's happening.

Nci ?

Hirsute wrote:

Nci ?

As I've now edited, autocorrect removed the 'U'.

well I do believe those are the rules, you are supposed to be riding to achieve your best possible result at all times.

So having a kind of little mini half corner lap of honour in a time trial might well go against that rule, at least in spirit, but somehow even with all that mucking about he still finished ahead of half the riders left in the race.

Yet he could have done all that crowd surfing stuff and meeting up with his wife that he did, on his recon ride lap, there was no need to do it in the actual ITT, what was the point of doing it just with the cameras present unless he wanted to be centre of attention ?

and it does actually take the piss frankly out of all those riders who had to commit wholly to doing an ITT effort to avoid the timecut.

its the Tour de France, not a flipping boy scouts ride, be more professional about how you approach it is all I would suggest.

stonojnr wrote:

and it does actually take the piss frankly out of all those riders who had to commit wholly to doing an ITT effort to avoid the timecut.

its the Tour de France, not a flipping boy scouts ride, be more professional about how you approach it is all I would suggest.

There are riders who 'don't bother' in TTs in every stage race, conserving their efforts for stages they will perform better in. Let's demonised them too.

stonojnr wrote:

well I do believe those are the rules, you are supposed to be riding to achieve your best possible result at all times.

So on that basis when the domestiques or lead out men pull off after doing their turn and wave to the cameras and cruise in they should be penalised? There is no rule that says you should be riding "to achieve your best possible result at all times", if there was the whole concept of the grupetto would be forbidden for a start.

stonojnr wrote:

well I do believe those are the rules, you are supposed to be riding to achieve your best possible result at all times.

So having a kind of little mini half corner lap of honour in a time trial might well go against that rule, at least in spirit, but somehow even with all that mucking about he still finished ahead of half the riders left in the race.

Yet he could have done all that crowd surfing stuff and meeting up with his wife that he did, on his recon ride lap, there was no need to do it in the actual ITT, what was the point of doing it just with the cameras present unless he wanted to be centre of attention ?

and it does actually take the piss frankly out of all those riders who had to commit wholly to doing an ITT effort to avoid the timecut.

its the Tour de France, not a flipping boy scouts ride, be more professional about how you approach it is all I would suggest.

spirit meet letter. 

stonojnr wrote:

well I do believe those are the rules, you are supposed to be riding to achieve your best possible result at all times.

So having a kind of little mini half corner lap of honour in a time trial might well go against that rule, at least in spirit, but somehow even with all that mucking about he still finished ahead of half the riders left in the race.

Yet he could have done all that crowd surfing stuff and meeting up with his wife that he did, on his recon ride lap, there was no need to do it in the actual ITT, what was the point of doing it just with the cameras present unless he wanted to be centre of attention ?

and it does actually take the piss frankly out of all those riders who had to commit wholly to doing an ITT effort to avoid the timecut.

its the Tour de France, not a flipping boy scouts ride, be more professional about how you approach it is all I would suggest.

You'll go batshit when you see all the champagne drinking and back slapping on a typical final stage. Time to draw this to UCI's attention. As with all the other stages where the peloton slows down to allow local riders to be "the centre of attention"!

stonojnr wrote:

well I do believe those are the rules, you are supposed to be riding to achieve your best possible result at all times.

And you would be able to find that rule, would you?

Back in the day competition to be the Lanterne Rouge (and guarantee invites to the commercial post Tour crits) could be so fierce that riders would literally stop and hide in bushes in an effort to be dropped and come last. Cycling is a strange and multifaceted sport. Don't try and force it into a homogenous box full of identikit robo-athletes.

stonojnr wrote:

well I do believe those are the rules, you are supposed to be riding to achieve your best possible result at all times.

I think if there was such a rule, he'd have been fined for breaking it, instead, the UCI had to reach for the somewhat tenuous "unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport" card. 

If he'd stopped for 20 minutes on a time trial, I imagine he'd have missed the time cut anyway.

Geoff Ingram wrote:

Fined for kissing his own wife. I don't understand. Whose wife should he have kissed, then?

Well it is in France, the nation that is renowned for its acceptance of adultery, so…

don simon fbpe wrote:

UCI are knobheads!

I don't know why we keep on voting for them

Not my UCI..

https://bentupcyclingjournal.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recumbent-bicycle...

don simon fbpe wrote:

UCI are knobheads!

Nope, knobheads are useful.