The riders in the Tour de France peloton not only have to contend with the parcours, the weather and the occasional fan who gets too close to them, but they have to complete each stage mindful of the rules.
On stage two, the rider with the dubious fame of receiving the first fine of the race was Stefan Küng of Groupama-FDJ, who was filmed grabbing the helmet of fellow rider Rubén Guerreiro (EF Education-EasyPost).
The next day, Küng insisted that the gesture was not violent, and that he accepted the fine. It appeared that the pair had made up after the altercation.
Five different directeur sportifs were also fined after Sunday’s stage for the much more minor crime of having one of their riders throwing rubbish outside of the litter zone. Thanks to the specific rider being unidentifiable, the DS is fined rather than a solo athlete.
After stage three, Quinn Simmons was fined for “riding in paths, sidewalks and bike lanes”, a penalty that he described as a “bit excessive” ahead of day four.
“It was a bit of excessive of a fine,” he said. “If they did that every day every single rider in the peloton would be fined. There wouldn’t be a rider left in the peloton, especially in a stage like today.”
“You get pushed and it’s such a big fight. When the road is blocked and when you have to get to the front, you do what you have to do,” he continued. “In a move like that, they talk about the danger, but a move like for any rider in the peloton is not dangerous. You’re six inches on or off the road. It is not dangerous.
“I saw the video from the helicopter and if you watch the Roubaix day tomorrow I guarantee you that every rider in the peloton does something worse. I just got unlucky and I was caught on the camera,” he said. “If they’re fair it will be a very long fine sheet tomorrow.”
On Tuesday, four separate riders were fined for jettisoning bottles outside of the litter zones, and a couple of directeurs sportif were fined for not obeying the commissaires, among other infractions.
How do Tour de France fines work?
Any breaches that are spotted can be punished by the race commissaires who can dish out fines to the respective rider and teams, and in the most severe cases even disqualify riders.
Typically, fines are given out for drafting a vehicle, inappropriate or dangerous riding such as in a sprint, unauthorised fuelling in the final 20km or for littering in an undesignated area.
Fines are not limited to riders, though. Entire teams can…