The yellow card system will not result in any sanctions during the test period from August 1 to the end of the year. From January 1, 2025, people who receive two yellow cards in the same race will be disqualified and banned for seven days. Three yellow cards within 30 days will result in a 14-day ban. Anyone who accumulates six yellow cards in a year will have to take a 30-day break. The UCI points out that race exclusions are already possible for serious offenses. This will continue to apply.
In some races this year, tests will also be carried out to limit the wearing of headphones. This is a source of distraction and also poses a risk if several teams ask their riders to ride to the front of the race at the same time. At the end of the year, a decision will be made as to whether only two riders per team will be allowed to have radio contact with their teams. At the same time, tests will be carried out to extend the three-kilometre rule to up to five kilometres. In the event of a crash in the last three kilometres of flat stages, the riders affected will be given the same time as the group at the time of the incident.
At the beginning of April, UCI President David Lappartient told the portal “Cyclingnews” that 50 percent of crashes were due to the behavior of the riders. “I don’t want to say that they are all to blame. It could just be a brief moment of inattention. That’s why we want to introduce a principle of yellow and red cards, like in football, so that dangerous behavior is better punished.”
