‘Dangerous’ lead-out lands Guarischi first yellow card under new UCI rule

The Tour de France Femmes has seen its first UCI yellow card for dangerous riding, with Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) being cautioned for her actions during the stage 2 sprint.

The Italian lead-out specialist’s penalty was disclosed in the official post-race report, citing “improper conduct that endangers others in the final sprint” according to Article 2.12.007.8.2-1 of the UCI regulations.

SD Worx-Protime later confirmed Guarischi received a yellow card for ceasing to pedal and removing her hands from the handlebars after completing her lead-out for Lorena Wiebes. The UCI officials deemed the move as hazardous.

“Barbara led the sprint for Lorena Wiebes and then she stopped riding and began cheering for Lorena on the microphone, and they deemed it a dangerous situation,” sports manager Danny Stam told Cyclingnews.

“I believe it could lead to some risky moments because if someone is stationary in the pack and others come from behind at speed, it’s concerning.”

Despite eventually acknowledging that this is how the new yellow card rule will be enforced, Stam indicated that such actions are not uncommon in sprints, with lead-out riders typically dropping back through the peloton after their effort.

“I mean you see it everywhere, right?” Stam suggested. 

“Every sprint it’s the same, but okay, if this is the criteria for a yellow card.”

Amid the hectic double stage race day on Tuesday, SD Worx-Protime initially found the decision confusing, with limited communication from the UCI officials.

“Nobody knows, we have no idea,” sports director Anna van der Breggen said, talking to Cyclingnews and Velo after stage 3. 

“We will inquire because if a mistake was made, we need to learn from it and improve. So we will ask and hopefully receive an explanation.”

Van der Breggen even spoke to Guarischi after the stage, and she was equally perplexed. A closer look at her actions in the finale shows the Italian completing her lead-out, then shouting at Wiebes. She proceeded to lift one hand off the handlebars to offer more encouragement via her radio.

“We asked Barbara herself, ‘Did you do something you think was borderline?’ but she doesn’t know. She wants to understand as well,” said Van der Breggen. 

Upon learning of the incident, Stam and the team simply confirmed that “She was frustrated by it.”

This is how the UCI yellow card system works:

Yellow cards in cycling are a novel system currently under trial by the UCI, inspired by football, with a testing period in place until December 31, 2024. 

Following this trial, their effectiveness will be evaluated by SafeR, the safety initiative project partly launched last year by the UCI and key cycling stakeholders to enhance safety in men’s and women’s races, expected to be fully operational from January 1, 2025.

Currently, “yellow cards will serve as a penalty but will not have a physical presence,” and accumulating them will not result in further penalties like disqualification or suspension, although that is the future aim of the system.

The initiative was created to monitor any misconduct in the peloton and race convoy, with riders, sports directors, journalists, and motorbike drivers among those eligible for the sanction. 

The UCI also outlined 21 incidents that could lead to a yellow card in Article 2.12.007, along with existing penalties like fines, point deductions, and ejections, ranging from “removing mandatory helmet during the race” for riders to “Interviewing a rider during the race” for journalists.

After the SafeR evaluation of the five-month trial period, accumulating multiple yellow cards could result in different levels of punishment, as outlined by the UCI in June:

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