Tour of Flanders winner Tadej Pogačar could receive a driving ban and fine over the incident which saw the peloton split during the early stages of Sunday’s Monument, the prosecutor’s office investigating the “bad example” set by riders who failed to stop at a railway crossing’s red light.

The incident occurred at a railway crossing in Wichelen, the rear sections of the peloton stopped as the barriers came down to let a train pass through. Pogačar, his UAE Team Emirates teammates and many other riders positioned near the front of the bunch had already passed through and were held up by race commissaires to allow the rest of the peloton to regain contact.

Reports from Belgium suggest the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office intends to take action against riders who, in the words of a spokesperson for rail operator Infrabel, set a “bad example”. An estimate also suggests that between 20 and 30 riders may face action, and could receive fines ranging from €320 to €4,000 and an eight-day driving ban.

A spokesperson for train network operator Infrabel also condemned the scenes.

“Traffic regulations are clear: if the lights at a level crossing are on red, you must stop. That’s the case in everyday life, and it naturally applies in a cycling race too,” Frédéric Petit told Flanders-based news channel VRT.

“The police or traffic control contact us so that we can stop the train for a few minutes. That did not happen at this level crossing. Then you end up with a situation like this, when the first part of the peloton passes the closed barrier and a second part has to wait. That is, of course, not a good example. In everyday life, these offences carry severe penalties.”

The incident went unmentioned in the UCI commissaires’ post-race report and no riders were disqualified, possibly due to the large number who had made the front group. Pogačar was fined 500 Swiss francs and docked 25 UCI points afterwards, however that was for “disposing of waste outside of disposal areas”.

At the time, the railway crossing incident caused some controversy as the breakaway was not stopped, meaning its advantage went up by around 90 seconds, forcing UAE Team Emirates to exert more energy chasing.

“It was not nice,” Pogačar said afterwards. “I think they could prevent this by stopping us before, no? Not 10 meters before the crossing, three guys jump on the road. I was thinking, maybe it’s like some protesters or something, like, something crazy is going on. And yeah, then the bunch was split from the crossing.”

Every so often a pro race will be stopped by a passing train at a railway crossing, it’s a bizarre scene but one that simply comes as standard for a sport held on hundreds of kilometres of public road.

The most famous incident involving a train crossing came at Paris-Roubaix back in 2015, with riders sprinting across the tracks and blatantly ignoring calls to stop. In response, the UCI amended its rules and made it “strictly forbidden to cross level crossings when the barrier is down or closing, the warning signal ringing or flashing”.

US rider Taylor Phinney was disqualified from the 2017 Tour of Britain for crossing a railway when the barriers were coming down.

These days, a red light at a level crossing is rarely cause for much stress, most riders now familiar and trusting of the established response whereby commissaires will slow down any groups or riders ahead of the split and ensure the gaps are maintained when racing resumes. It is unclear why the commissaires allowed Sunday’s breakaway to continue to grow its advantage while the peloton behind was halted at the barriers or slowed by race staff.