Michael Schär has become the third person to be kicked out of this year’s Tour of Flanders after he chucked away a bottle.
The AG2R Citroën rider appeared to immediately regret throwing the bidon after seemingly remembering that following a recent update to the UCI rules rider’s can now be disqualified if they get rid of objects, such as bidons, outside of new ‘litter zones’.
Riders can be kicked out of the race, docked ranking points and given time penalties if caught.
Schär had been trying to get back to the peloton after a lengthy chase following two bike changes but just as the field come into view he was told by the race jury that he was disqualified.
When you realize you forgot new UCI regulations. pic.twitter.com/A9icwa1FIX
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) April 4, 2021
The new rules only came into effect at the start of April.
A number of pro riders took to social media to question whether the new protocols were necessary.
— Jake (@jakey_stewart) April 4, 2021
The latest disqualification comes after two other riders Astana’s Yevgeniy Fedorov and Alpecin-Fenix’s Otto Vergaerde were kicked out for a clash in the early stages of the race.
22 thoughts on “Cyclist disqualified from Tour of Flanders…for littering”
This was really silly. Poor
This was really silly. Poor guy was working really hard to get back on after two bike changes and all he did was chuck a bidon to a fan – there’s no way that won’t get picked up. It’s not like he’s throwing gel wrappers or foil on the ground.
I’ve often wondered how many
I’ve often wondered how many bottles are used by the Peloton, over the course of a grand tour. Nearly 200 riders X 21 days X 4 or 5 per day (with a few exceptions)
It seems awfully wasteful, environmentally irresponsible (even allowing for some being picked up by spectators) and setting an unprofessional example.
they are reusable containers
they are reusable containers though, if you want to see waste just watch one of the many online videos that do “behind the scenes” visits to these races, they literally have fleets of cars with drivers, and helicopters on hand just to whisk guests around the course route, or the amount of fuel used in generators to power equipment on the team buses etc etc
All these things need
All these things need tackling, it’s not one or the other.
I hate seeing riders chuck their bottles into undergrowth or down banks. The race organisers’ line was always that a clean-up team comes along afterwards, but there’s no way on earth they would find half the bidons.
I’m delighted the UCI is enforcing the rules, even if this was not the worst case by any means.
totally agree I hate seeing
totally agree I hate seeing them chuck them just to save a few grams on a climb, think it was the Vuelta last year and saw them chucking bidons literally over a cliff into a canyon, no fan was going to pick those up.So fine them, and apply the rule equally.
But there are degrees of wrongness and being sensible about these things and disqualifying a rider from a race for chucking a bidon away for a fan is not sensible, it completely diverts attention away from the point of the rule is making about stopping littering, and destroys the fan engagement in cycling which is probably bar baseball, one of the few professional sports that has that level of fan engagement.
the UCI too often hides behind its own rules & regulations when its missing what real fans get from the sport, and completely ignoring its often far bigger failings. has Bouhanni been banned for a race yet as an example ? has the UCI responded to Genevieve Jeanson’s open letter yet ?
But he’s not throwing it in
But he’s not throwing it in the undergrowth or down a bank – there’s a group of fans right there who will now have a nice memento from the day. The commissaires do have discretion and I think this was heavy handed.
I believe they have
I believe they have designated areas for getting rid of bidons. Outside of those areas, it’s not allowed – so the decision is correct.
I wish there were designated
I wish there were designated areas for the Red Bull cans I see on our country lanes in Cumbria.
Total nonsense, there were
Total nonsense, there were bottles going left right and centre from the peleton, but the comms couldn’t pick out the riders so nothing done, because he was off the back with a mechanical, he was an easy target.
yep, even after that had
yep, even after that had happened so youd think DS would be screaming down the radios to riders not to do it, I saw several bottles lobbed towards roadside fans and no fines, no disqualifications from it, and as per normal UCI focusing on the wrong thing anyway.
I think fair enough. If thems
I think fair enough. If thems the rules, thems the rules.
However, if cyclists shouldn’t litter, what about motor vehicles? They leave their noxious, planet destroying CO2, NOX hydrocarbons & particulates wherever they go and hardly anyone says boo.
Let alone all of the take
Let alone all of the take away litter I see in areas many miles from the nearest outlet.
When much younger I temped as a litter picker on the Hampshire section of the M3 for a couple of months, (went a bit deaf in my right ear because of wax build up…) . The 1/2 mile after Fleet services took a whole week.
If Formula 1 drivers were
If Formula 1 drivers were normalising littering then maybe you’d have a point.
Tear off visor strips?
Tear off visor strips?
Not to mention vast quantities of rubber – with the tyres that needlessly degrade after less than half a race, but are necessary because no one can overtake on the track.
Given the accident Geraint
Given the accident Geraint Thomas suffered in the Giro as the result of an errant bidon I could understand the stance if the UCI advised the rule was safety based.
Are the UCI now going to deem bidons bouncing out of cages grounds for disqualification as well?
I don’t believe a bottle
I don’t believe a bottle bounced out of the cage in that crash. For a starters it was travelling faster across the road than simply dropping from the bike would suggest. Then ask yourself how often does that happen? I’ve never seen it. I think they wanted to make this look like more of an innocent accident.
Echoing most of the comments
Echoing most of the comments below and while I almost completely subscribe to the rules preventing littering, tossing an empty bottle to fans is hardly a problem, is it? The best memories my two girls have of their Tour de France holidays are Marcel Kittel and a Yates twin dropping their bottles at the girls’ feet as they climbed an alpine pass.
Schar didn’t throw the bottle blindly into a hedge or field, didn’t appear to endanger another rider, didn’t throw the bottle dangerously at the fans and the bottle wasn’t likely to bounce above twice before someone snatched it up as a souvenir.
This smacks very much of UCI applying the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law and in depriving fans of the opportunity to get a free souvenir seems a bit harsh, not to mention the overzealous sanction applied to Mickey Schar. Shame!
I think it will be hard to
I think it will be hard to police if they can say they were just passing it to a fan. I live in the south of France on roads that are used for lots of races and the amount of discarded bottles is terrible. After the last Ironman we collected hundreds of discarded bottles in the few Kms after the feeding station. That was a week after the event. They should bar code all bottles and fine organisers for any waste found afterwards. There is really no excuse, it has just become the norm to throw bottles. I feel sorry for the rider but I am sure in the long run this is a good idea.
The law itself actually says
The law itself actually says that you musn’t throw bidons ‘at spectators’. It’s not clear that that’s the same thing as throwing them to spectators. To me, throwing them at spectators carries an implication of doing so in a way that they might hit somebody, or being careless about where you’re throwing them.
However, that’s been written into race rulebooks as you musn’t throw them to spectators, and that’s what the commissaires are then enforcing.
So if there’s a backlash over it there may be some wiggle room for the UCI to say to organisers ‘Look – you’re over-interpreting the rule – we never intended to stop bottles being passed to fans as souvenirs – just make sure they’re doing it responsibly’.
mdavidford wrote:
The law actually states that
Different bit of the law.
Different bit of the law. Arguably, if you’re passing an item to a fan, it’s not ‘waste’ being ‘jettisoned’. In terms of the ‘race incidents’ for which punishments can be given it defines it as
I agree this was heavy handed
I agree this was heavy handed, but if you’re going to have a rule, you need to enforce it. So punish him, but with a fine rather than being disqualified from the race. Send a message to other riders, you will get punishment – a fine or worse, depending on the case – if you do the same.