🎥 Alaphilippe escapes yellow after dangerous move on Van der Poel, Van Gils gets unjustified penalty

The yellow card system once again caused commotion in the peloton. In Milan-Sanremo, the riders were unable to escape it. This time, it was Maxim Van Gils's turn. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team leader was warned after discarding a water bottle, but was it justified? Meanwhile, Julian Alaphilippe escaped punishment, much to Thijs Zonneveld's displeasure.

Van Gils was the victim after he carelessly threw away a water bottle, as can be read in the jury report of Milan-Sanremo. He was fined 500 Swiss Francs, a deduction of 25 UCI points, and a yellow card. What is strange about the punishment is that the UCI has strict rules about issuing yellow cards. The Belgian should never have received a yellow card because it was his first offense. In that case, a fine and points deduction would suffice. For a second offense, the fine and points deduction is increased to 1000 francs and 50 points, as well as a yellow card. So, the fact that Van Gils received a yellow card does not match the rules.

Furthermore, a motorcycle police officer was handed a yellow card. He was said to have violated the rules regarding 'vehicle movements during the race', but it is unclear what exactly he did wrong. Attila Valter (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Mikkel Honoré (EF Education—EasyPost) were fined 200 francs for urinating in public, but they got away without a yellow card.

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Alaphilippe almost hits Van der Poel while overtaking

The only rider to escape punishment was Julian Alaphilippe. On the Cipressa, about 32 kilometers from the finish line, he appeared from nowhere on the inside of the bend, passing Mathieu van der Poel at full speed. It was actually impossible, and the eventual winner of La Primavera was clearly startled by the Frenchman's attempt to overtake: he had to swerve for a moment, almost causing a collision with Alex Kirsch. The Tudor team leader apologized to Van der Poel immediately.

But Thijs Zonneveld was totally dissatisfied with the maneuver. "If you introduce that into cycling, I think it's the textbook example of a yellow card," said the former cyclist in his podcast In het Wiel. "It's much more important than cyclists raising one hand in places where they travel 80 kilometers an hour. If you want to give a yellow card for that, fine, but you have to give a yellow card for this."

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It could have ended much worse: "Then 80 men would have crashed"

"If Van der Poel doesn't react there, Alaphilippe could easily lose control of his bike. You don't expect someone to throw him off like that in that silly little bend. It's just that Van der Poel reacted very quickly there. You could see that he was startled. It could have ended badly, not just for Van der Poel. If you've just taken a sip from your water bottle, or Jay Vine is riding there, it could be a huge crash because you're riding there at 55 km/h at the very front of the peloton. Then 80 men could be lying on the ground."

Read also

Sporza analysts see unstoppable Van der Poel: “If Pogacar wants to win the Tour of Flanders, there’s only one way”

Ganna gains nothing from seemingly impossible performance: “Only Van der Poel will be remembered”

Pogacar should’ve played more mind games with Van der Poel, says Zonneveld: “This was a desperate move”

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