Throwing away litter, prohibited positions on the bike, sticky water bottles, or a shoulder push in the run-up to a mass sprint; anything can happen during a race, especially in the Tour de France, which has 21 stages. In de Leiderstrui keeps track of the various violations and associated penalties for you in this overview!
A rider can be penalized by the jury for various reasons. A common reason is throwing away food and water bottles. There are special zones on the course for this. If a rider throws away his waste outside of these zones, he (or the responsible team manager) can be fined for it.
Furthermore, fines are often issued for a sticky bidon. The rider saves his legs by letting the team car carry him when handing over a bidon. Nowadays, riders also have to pay attention to the position they adopt on the bike. For example, the time trial position (placing the wrists over the middle of the handlebars) during a stage and the ‘super-tuck’ (sitting on the top tube during a descent) have not been permitted by the jury for a few years now, for which the UCI is responsible.
Fines are not the only means of punishment that the jury can apply. They can also impose time penalties or deduct points for secondary classifications such as the points classification or the mountain jersey. Furthermore, a rider’s UCI ranking points are not safe in the event of serious or repeated violations. The more serious the violation, or the more frequent the violation in a stage, therefore also leads to a heavier penalty. The ultimate means of punishment in this respect is disqualification, although it is rare that this actually occurs.
Fines and time penalties Tour de France 2024
Stage 8
No fines or time penalties.
Stage 7
Anyone who expected the jury to have little to do in a time trial will be disappointed. For example, the jury handed out some very striking fines. Stage two winner Kévin Vauquelin (Arké-B&B Hotels) really went too far. He was fined 500 Swiss francs and deducted 20 UCI points for ‘attacks, intimidation, insults, threats and incorrect behaviour (including pulling on the jersey or saddle of another rider, hitting with the helmet, knee, elbow, shoulder, foot or hand, etc.) that is indecent or endangers others.’
Then there was local hero Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), who turned the time trial on his home roads into a real party. He whipped up the crowd, especially on the climb along the way. At one point he even stopped to greet his wife, child and fan club. The jury, however, did not appreciate it. Bernard was fined 200 Swiss francs for inappropriate behaviour during the time trial and damage to the reputation of the sport. Then there was a fine of 200 Swiss francs for Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) because he rode too close to the wheel of another rider.
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Stage 6
In the sixth stage to Dijon, one event was central: the disqualification of Jasper Philipsen following he hindered Wout van Aert in full sprint. For this he was also deducted thirteen points in the battle for green, as well as a fine of 500 Swiss francs.
Philipsen was not the only one who was fined. Mark Cavendish, winner of Thursday’s stage, was also fined. The Briton was accused of having stay-behind a car and had to pay 200 Swiss francs for this, with a bonus of ten points in the points classification. The same happened to teammate Alexey Lutsenko, team managers Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) and Mario Aerts (Lotto-Dstny) were fined 500 Swiss francs.
Stage 5
Stage 4
No fines or time penalties.
Stage 3
No fines or time penalties.
Stage 2
Day two was the day: the first fines. Two of them went to team managers of Alpecin-Deceuninck. Team manager Christoph Roodhooft was fined 500 Swiss francs for violating the rules regarding vehicle movements during the race. His colleague Gianni Meersman did not follow the instructions of the commissaires, which cost him a fine of 200 Swiss francs.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels did not only show its good side with stage winner Kévin Vauquelin. His teammate Raul Garcia Pierna was punished for urinating in public. It cost the Spanish all-rounder (or his team) 200 Swiss francs.
Stage 1
No fines or time penalties.
