Oscar Riesebeek of Alpecin-Deceuninck has become the first cyclist to be suspended under UCI's yellow card rules. The 32-year-old Dutchman was caught breaking the same rule on stages 2 and 5 of the Baloise Belgium Tour: "Using sidewalks, footpaths, or other paths not part of the race course."
This means Riesebeek will serve a seven-day ban, as per the rule stating, "If a license holder receives two yellow cards in the same race, they will be withdrawn from the competition (in the case of a multi-day race) and given a seven-day suspension."
"I accept the consequences of my actions. Of course, it's disappointing that I have to miss the national championships, but looking back, I understand that my behavior during the race was not only wrong but also put fellow competitors at risk," said Riesebeek. "This is something I truly regret and apologize for. The rules are clear. If they are applied consistently, I fully respect that. I will now take some time to recover and prepare for upcoming races."
Due to the ban, Riesebeek will miss the Dutch National Championships this week, which are taking place in his hometown of Ede. However, this will not affect his participation in the Tour de France, where he is expected to be part of Jasper Philipsen's sprint train.
Although Riesebeek admits his actions put others at risk, his second use of the sidewalk during the Baloise Belgium Tour primarily affected himself – he crashed and abandoned the tour. Fortunately, no fractures were detected as a result of the fall.
