After becoming the first rider to receive a yellow card under the UCI's new rule at the Tour Down Under, Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has become the first rider to receive two yellow cards, netting his second at the UAE Tour.
Van Poppel finished eighth on stage 6 into Abu Dhabi Breakwater, but was subsequently penalised for the same reason he was in January: "Deviation from the chosen line that obstructs or endangers another rider." The rider the Dutchman impeded was Arvid de Kleij (Tudor), who gesticulated past the finish line, annoyed at the manoeuvre.
While Van Poppel has received his second yellow card sanction of the season, he's not at risk of suspension at all, with more serious punishments only coming into play if the offender gets yellow carded twice in the same race or receives three within a 30-day period.
Neither apply in this case so it will simply be added to Van Poppel's tally for the year. If he receives four more (six total) within a year of his first, which he got on January 22, he will be suspended for 30 days.
Van Poppel was also relegated from eighth to last position in his group - 25th. He was also fined 500 CHF.
What do riders and staff think of the new rule application in sprinting?
Use of the new yellow card rule has seen 10 riders handed the sanction so far but the most talked about are for deviations in sprints, with inconsistent rulings on relegations in recent years and sprint finishes becoming more dangerous part of the reason the UCI moved towards this new system.
However, while the new system is still in its teething period so to speak, the inconsistency problem for some can be just as problematic as it was before.
"I think from what I've seen so far, which is Tour Down Under and UAE - the races I've been present at, I wouldn't say they've been lax giving out yellow cards but there's probably been some opportunities where they could've given out more," former top lead-out rider and XDS Astana DS Mark Renshaw told Cyclingnews.
"In the Tour Down Under, they gave out a few but there was one rider in particular that if they were a little bit stiffer on the rules, could've had three yellow cards.
"So it may be teething period but for me, do I stress to the riders to change their style? No. But they need to understand that the sprints are now more watched than ever so they have to be correct in the way they are sprinting."
Van Poppel himself also commented on the rule as the first rider to receive one, with no qualms about the one he got in Australia and also seeing it mainly as a positive, but similarly noting that the consistency with which the rule is used has already been somewhat of an issue.
"Of course, something had to change because cycling is getting really dangerous. But my frustration point is that I see already some sprints where they don't give a yellow card [but could have]," Van Poppel told Cyclingnews before stage 4, speaking well ahead of receiving his second.
"So for me, they have to treat everybody the same and do the right thing. They punished me in Tour Down Under but then you see things in other races and I'm sitting on the couch at home and it's really frustrating to see that they are not consistent.
"But we had to do something for safety, so it's a good thing. You need a professional ex-sprinter to do that but in the UCI there are not really experienced ex-sprinters so that's also a little frustrating to see but in the end, it's OK for me and it's maybe a wake-up call for cycling."
Other sprinters were less outspoken, as they aren't required to change much, if anything, with no one setting out to make a move that could be penalised in the first place.
"It's a rule that the UCI implements and look it's also a new system so let's see what they do with it but yeah we just have to adapt as riders," Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) told Cyclingnews before stage 5.
The Belgian was relegated on stage 1 of the UAE Tour for "Deviation from the chosen line that obstructs" but didn't receive a yellow card as the lower speed incident didn't "endanger" Finn Fisher-Black, the rider he impeded.
De Kleijn gave his opinion to Cyclingnews ahead of stage 4: "I think it won't change that much but I think it's a good system to flag things down that are not allowed. But for now, it won't change too much."
Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) also answered diplomatically when the new ruling was brought up in his stage 1 winner's press conference, "Like always in the end, all the guys in the group are never trying to make 'bad moves' and so we are not looking to take yellow cards or red cards.
"We are trying to approach it in the best way we can like always and then it's up to the jury whether or not they decide something."
