Paris (AFP)

Red card !

Throwing a can out of the zone or sitting on the horizontal tube of the bike will result in immediate exclusion from one-day races from April, according to the scale published on Thursday by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

In stage races, the first offense will be penalized with a 30-second penalty, the second with two minutes and the third with an exclusion.

"These new measures are part of a comprehensive safety plan for riders, men and women", declared the UCI, stressing that they "were accepted unanimously by representatives of all cycling families. , teams, riders and organizers. If the organizers will have to take into account new directives for the organization of their events, the riders and teams will also have to modify certain habits and practices ".

The working group behind these measures was made up of representatives of these three families: among others, the bosses of the Deceuninck (Patrick Lefevere), Jumbo (Richard Plugge) and DSM (Iwan Spekenbrink) teams, the director of the Tour de France (Christian Prudhomme) and two active runners, the Belgian Philippe Gilbert and the Italian Matteo Trentin.

- Support from the runners' association -

"We fully support the decisions that were taken during the last UCI management committee on February 4 after a consultation process in which our representatives participated alongside other cycling families", reacted Gianni Bugno, president of the 'association of runners (CPA), about measures that have cringe in part of the peloton, in particular the ban on sitting on the horizontal tube.

Chris Froome, who popularized in the 2016 Tour this downhill position bearing the name of the Slovenian Matej Mohoric, the first to have used it in a big meeting in 2013, quipped on this subject.

"Then they will ban the elbows that go out ...", tweeted the Briton, quadruple winner of the Tour de France.

In the new regulations, "riders must master their bicycle perfectly in all circumstances, and at the same time set an example for less experienced cyclists".

They must respect the position requiring as only points of support "the feet on the pedals, the hands on the handlebars and the seat on the saddle".

Other points, related to the safety of the courses, the installation of barriers and other arches, the appointment and training of security officials, also appear in these regulations which will take effect from April 1.

Like the risky position on the bike, a can throw outside the dedicated area (they will now be put in place every 30 to 40 km) will be sanctioned according to the same scale.

The sanction, automatic as soon as the infringement is noted, will be pronounced by the president of the jury who may be assisted by the video commissioner.

"The road does not belong to us. It is in the public domain and cannot be modified as we wish", underlined Christian Prudhomme, insisting on the need to have "a great capacity for adaptation".

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