'The UCI wants to set an example' - Lotto-Intermarché react to costly fine after one minute Dauphiné error
Lotto-Intermarché have responded after Sports Director Mario Aerts was fined 3000 CHF following the Team Time Trial on stage 3 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné.
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The commissaires’ report following Tuesday's team time trial had stated that the Belgian team’s equipment had not been presented in time for the inspection window before the start.
According to UCI regulations and rule 2.5.009, before team time trials, riders must present their equipment at the bike check area, no later than fifteen minutes before the team’s scheduled start time.
Ultimately, Lotto-Intermarché were deemed to have arrived late in the view of the commisaires, leading to a fine of 500 CHF per rider. With six riders remaining after Roel Vansintmaartensdijk abandoned, this totalled 3000 CHF for the Sports Director.
Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, team manager Steven De Neef reacted to the fine and how the situation unfolded.
“Previously, every rider had to be present at the ‘check’ with his bike fifteen minutes before the start time,” De Neef told Het Laatste Nieuws. "Recently, a margin of five minutes has been allowed, which permits riders to present themselves up to ten minutes in advance.
“On Tuesday, we ourselves sent a mechanic ahead to the checkpoint with the six time trial bikes on the roof of one of our support vehicles. The riders covered that route on their regular bikes and arrived, I estimate, one minute late,” explained De Neef.
The Belgian team finished 20th on the stage, 2:42 behind winners Visma | Lease a Bike, with Lars Craps the fastest finisher, but with a costly fine that would have soured the mood in the camp.
“It is a lot of money, that is true. But unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about it. It is the first time the new rule is being applied, and the UCI clearly wants to set an example,” said De Neef.
Beyond Aerts and Lotto, Jayco AlUla Sports Director Mathew Hayman and TotalEnergies Sports Director Benoit Genauzeau were fined 3,500 CHF each after their team bikes were also not presented in time for inspection, with both squads still having the full complement of seven riders.
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