After a trial period during the latter part of the 2024 season, the UCI has officially implemented a new system of punishments for safety rule infractions, and the first of the 'yellow card' penalties was given to Anna Badegruber during stage 2 of the women's Santos Tour Down Under.
The new scheme adds warnings to the usual fines given out to riders and teams for incidents such as sticky bottles, dangerous riding or driving and more. During the trial period, Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) earned the first yellow card for sitting up during a Tour de France Femmes bunch sprint. Even more were handed out during the Vuelta a España, but did not result in suspensions.
However, starting from January 1 this year, suspensions will be handed out for those who earn multiple yellow cards.
Badegruber was fined CHF 200 and given a yellow card for passing the peloton too closely after her team leader was involved in a crash.
"If the commissaries decided it was too dangerous and I deserve a yellow card for that, then that's how it is, and we will move on from that. But obviously, you don't want to get a second one in the same event, because then you're out. For that reason, I do believe it needs to be really clear what incidents you will get a yellow card from."
If an individual gets two yellow cards in the same race, they will be ejected from the event and suspended for seven days, and that was a concern for Badegruber, who had Mie Bjørndal Ottestad lying in third place in the overall classification ahead of the final stage.
"It will be super stressful," Badegruber told Cyclingnews before the final stage of the Women's Tour Down Under. "For sure, with moving in the cars or feeding or anything now you probably have it a little bit on your mind, 'Am I doing everything right? Is it correct? Is it not? Which rules apply? In the end, it's racing. We know what we are doing. We went for the UCI course and we've been in the sport, most of us, quite a few years now. We will just try to focus on the riders and get that done."
There was a consensus between four women's team directors that the yellow card could be useful in improving safety for the riders, but there is scepticism and concern that the UCI will not be able to ensure that yellow cards are handed out in a fair and even manner.
During the opening stage, the team mechanic for EF Education-Oatly was seen on television hanging out of the team car to provide assistance to a rider - an act that carries a more severe punishment than Badegruber's close pass - but the team was not sanctioned until the race jury reviewed the footage during stage 3. Mechanical assistance from a moving car can also result in a yellow card, but can also result in disqualification of the rider and a 100 UCI point penalty plus a CHF 500 fine.
The mechanic received a yellow card after stage 3 and the DS driving the car, Daniel Foder, got a CHF 500 fine.
Lidl-Trek sports director Ina Teutenberg is taking a wait-and-see approach to the yellow card system. "We used to get fines, and now the fines come with a yellow card, and if you have too many, you are suspended. So that's a problem. Before that, it was just expensive. We will see how it goes," Teutenberg told Cyclingnews.
She also pointed out that the race jury needs to see the offence before issuing a yellow card, and there are plenty of incidents that can happen out of their view.
"As long as it's fair and everybody gets the same treatment, then that's just how it is. Everything needs to be seen. Because if a team gets yellow cards and the director is out, but then other teams do the same thing and it's not seen ... but that's everywhere. In soccer, they fall sometimes, when somebody gets a red card and the other doesn't. It's hard to say if it's good or not. We will see. Maybe it makes behaviour in the pack a little bit better. I don't know, we'll see how it plays out."
In addition to the yellow cards, the UCI rolled out a new rule where riders can be punished for sitting up to celebrate during a bunch sprint, stopping pedalling or otherwise causing a hazard in the finales.
Human Powered Health sports director Giorgia Bronzini was concerned about the application of that rule.
"I think it is good that they can analyse case by case because I think sometimes some things can impact the results and the safeness of the rider really badly. In other cases, I don't know, let's say there are five riders coming to the sprint, and one led out the teammate and stopped pedalling. There isn't any consequence in the end, because there is no big bunch. In that case, if they wouldn't say yellow card just because these riders stopped pedalling in a lead-out, I don't think this is a case to give [a yellow card] - it doesn't mean anything.
"Otherwise, I think the riders can pay more attention in the finale and think about safety and not just about results. And I think [this] is a good education."
Race parcours a bigger concern for riders
Safety has become a major issue for professional cycling over the past decade, especially after the crash of Fabio Jakobsen during the Tour de Pologne which was made much worse by the barrier coming loose and flying into the sprinting peloton.
The deaths of Gino Mäder at the Tour de Suisse in 2023 and Muriel Furrer during the UCI Road World Championships last year, and the massive crash that left Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard fearing for his life during the Itzulia Basque Country last season only further emphasised the need for measures to improve safety.
An analysis of the UCI's SafeR project database of incidents found that 35% of race incidents were unprovoked rider errors. However, the announcement failed to say what percentage of incidents were due to course design or infrastructure.
Rider error does, however, lead to a significant portion of crashes, but the women's directors were not sure whether the yellow cards would improve safety for the riders or not.
"Until we see [the yellow cards] in practice, it's hard to be able to see if it's made an impact on the safety. In the end, we hope any measure that we can see in the sport to make it safer [will help], because that should be a priority," said Canyon-SRAM zondocrypto sports director Beth Duryea.
"There are so many different aspects of safety - you could go from the start here until the finish, and basically, every single thing in between, even the preparation for races. It's hard to say it's [about] behaviour. In general, everything we can do for all of those aspects, the more that we can make things safer, regardless if it's in the race, out of the race, or during preparation for a race - all sorts of things can have an impact."
Although the UCI is starting to work more closely with race organisers to ensure courses are safe and the barrier designs aren't a hazard for the riders, Teutenberg and Bronzini agreed that more needs to be done to make courses safer.
"Sometimes race organisations put a speed bump into the finish straight," Teutenberg said. "I mean, that's just stupid, you know. I think a lot of races are safe, some races are not safe. We fill out some questionnaires at the UCI, and I feel like sometimes they are not read. Some races keep getting status where I think they are probably not the safest."
Bronzini agreed, saying "Sometimes, it's not just about the girls' behavior, but how the parcours is made. And sometimes in the women's races and also the men's, we have seen dangerous corners with 200 to go, and that should be avoided.
"I think the UCI also can check a little bit better with the organisation how the finale is set up and which barrier the organisation has in their hands also makes a difference."
All of the directors acknowledged that many times, the riders' safety is in their own hands.
"Everybody has a brake, and a lot of crashes happen because people are not using their brakes," Teutenberg said.
