The UCI’s heavy-handed approach to fining riders has once again become the subject of ridiculing by fans of the sport, this time after Giulio Ciccone was fined 250 Swiss francs for celebrating a win by throwing his sunglasses into the crowd.
Lidl-Trek’s Italian climber won Monday’s opening stage of the Tour of the Alps, repeating his trademark celebration, seen multiple times at the Giro d’Italia, where Ciccone launches his shades into the crowd as he crosses the line, giving a lucky spectator the ultimate souvenir to take home.
In this case, Lidl-Trek’s Steven de Jongh highlighted in a post on social media that the lucky recipients were a couple of young children, the sports director arguing that “sport is emotion” and his rider did not deserve a fine.
I hope @UCI_cycling made a mistake.. This is his signature for the win already for years !
Sport is emotion .
No fine needed !!
See the happy kid at the end of the movie.
Congrats Cicco !! pic.twitter.com/5ohHYqebnO— STEVEN DE JONGH (@stevendejongh) April 21, 2025
De Jongh suggested he hoped the 250 Swiss franc fine from the UCI was a “mistake”, however this was not the case, Ciccone today saying he may have to retire his famous celebration if it’s going to cost him nearly £250 a pop.
The jury report said the stage-one winner had been guilty of “disposing of other objects (sunglasses) in a careless manner in the finish”. He was also docked 15 UCI points, just five less than he got in total for his first victory in almost two years.
Ahead of stage two today, Ciccone told Dutch outlet Wielerflits: “I hadn’t thought about it. It’s… I don’t want to say ridiculous, but it’s hard to say because the rules change every year. My mistake was not studying the rules, but now I know. I’m not going to continue doing it. It’s always strange to get a fine when you win the race. I don’t agree, but I can’t change anything.”
Tadej Pogačar joined in the fun, commenting on Ciccone’s Instagram post with a GIF of a football referee sending a player off. However, the UCI’s heavy-handed fine has also caused much eye-rolling among the sport’s fans, some accusing the UCI of being killjoys.
“125 years of killing the buzz,” one fan wrote online, another suggesting the fine means “now emotion is illegal”.
“Insane! UCI needs to get a grip,” another cycling fan added.
“Absolute ridiculous decision from the jury, 250CHF fine for something that a youngster will remember for the rest of his life,” a fourth wrote.
The Ciccone situation comes just weeks after UAE Team Emirates rider Isaac del Toro was fined 200 Swiss francs and docked his UCI points after winning Milano-Torino. Del Toro’s grievous offence was that his jersey zip broke during the race, meaning he was unable to zip it up for the finish photo, his bare-chested celebration having “damaged image of the sport”, according to the UCI.
His team reportedly tried to fix the wardrobe malfunction on several occasions, only for the zip to break open again, while the recent trend for riders to wear aero-focused skinsuits during road races meant Del Toro was unable to swiftly change his jersey to a functioning one during the race.
According to the UCI, Del Toro was penalised under article 2.12.007-8.6 of the governing body’s rules for “damage to the image of the sport”.
Sock length, broken zips and now sunglass throwing. Any guesses for the UCI’s next amusing fine?
10 thoughts on ““125 years of killing the buzz”: Cycling fans bash UCI over pro cyclist’s “ridiculous” fine for sunglass-throwing celebration”
UCI should get thrown out!
UCI should get thrown out! time for a new governing body I reckon.
This would indeed be a
This would indeed be a perfect moment for UCI to drink their own medicine – and fine themselves for “damage to the image of the sport”.
There are many glasses that
There are many glasses that are actually more than the fine itself.
https://road.cc/category/review-section/accessories/glasses
Also a teen winning a local race throwing away stuff that a hardworking parent may have payed, is a behavior that should not be copied.
Have a day off, ffs 🙄
Have a day off, ffs 🙄
cyclisto wrote:
Lots of professional athletes give their gear – shirts, gloves, hats etc – away to fans after an event, albeit not in such a dramatic fashion. I haven’t noticed the under 12s playing down the local park chucking their shirts to the spectators after the final whistle because they’ve seen the pros doing it. Fairly sure that most teenage racers whose parents have paid for their gear won’t be throwing it away if they win. For a professional cyclist who gets their gear for free, it’s a cool fun gesture and gives a lucky fan an incredible souvenir. Lighten up, chap!
thats a totaly different
thats a totaly different thing,
Quote:
And they’re fining themselves how much?
I guess the point deduction is more important than the fine that the manufacturer would have stumped up for in the good ol’ days.
BTW, who is the manufacturer? They look like decent sunnies.
They’re 100%. Not sure of the
They’re 100%. Not sure of the model but I believe Speedcraft’s.
They actually played this well, the brand agreed to pay the fine and used it as marketing saying “Fine. 100% on us”
The UCI sticks to it’s safety
The UCI sticks to it’s safety rules and imposes a very moderate, minor penalty of 250SFR that the team will pay from the petty cash. Seems appropriate.
For any ex Army types out
For any ex Army types out there, this is the equivalent of good old Section 69C of the Army Act. Conduct contrary to good order and military discipline. Or, in other words, “We’re going to get you, you guilty bar-steward! We’ve even made a special rule, just for you.”