A slap on the wrist for cycling giant Tadej Pogacar: one day after his victory at the Tour of Flanders, the Slovenian superstar was punished by the race management. But that’s not his biggest rule break.
As the world cycling association UCI officially announced on Monday, the Tour of Flanders has consequences for Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian was fined 500 Swiss francs. In addition, 25 world ranking points were deducted from him.
Quite strange: the penalty was only imposed on the winner because he did not dispose of one of his drinking bottles in a designated area. The fact that he and other drivers crossed a railroad crossing despite the warning lights being on was not mentioned at all in the report.
For the UCI, the case should be closed and the already unlikely disqualification of Pogacar will no longer be an issue.
Pogacar and Co. are threatened with legal repercussions
But the UAE captain is not off the proverbial hook yet. According to Belgian media reports, local authorities have launched an investigation into the affected drivers who crossed the level crossing even though the red warning lights were already on. This is actually clearly regulated in the UCI regulations.
According to media reports, the professional cyclists are now threatened with a driving license revocation of at least eight days and a fine of between 400 and 5,000 euros as a result of the investigations carried out by the public prosecutor’s office. Pogacar and Co. may have to appear in court in person. In addition to the Slovenian, Florian Lipowitz and Remco Evenepoel, among others, also ignored the red light.
“Not even ten meters before the crossing, three men jumped onto the street and waved to stop us,” said Pogacar, describing what he saw after the race. The people were race commissioners, but Pogacar didn’t recognize this in the hustle and bustle: “I thought maybe they were demonstrators or something. And then the field was already divided.”
