🎥 Justified or unjustified? Huub Artz is removed from the lead group by the race jury

A strange moment in the Tour de France. Huub Artz was riding strongly at the front of the breakaway group and made his presence felt for the second day in a row. But after a few kilometers, he was pulled over by the race officials’ car, after which he had to drop back to the peloton. What exactly happened to the Dutch rider from Lotto-Intermarché?

Artz had a rough start to the Tour de France, with team leader Arnaud De Lie having to withdraw. The Belgian was sick and had to pull out after three stages. It was a shame, but it also opened up opportunities for the Tour rookie. He seized them with both hands: in the fifth stage, Artz joined the sprint, which earned him an impressive fourth-place finish in Pau.

But that wasn’t the end of it. The sixth stage was one for the climbers, but all-rounder Artz simply joined the breakaway. And with success: he closed the gap on Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), and later saw green jersey wearer Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) join them. That’s how the Dutchman found himself in the breakaway, once again making his presence felt.

But shortly after he moved into the lead, he was pulled over at the judges’ car. There was some discussion, and a moment later we saw Artz—after he had ridden forward briefly to alert his breakaway companions—lose contact with the lead group. That wasn’t without reason: he dropped back to the peloton. What had the jury whispered to him?

His position on the bike turned out to be illegal. He was leaning on the handlebars with his forearms, which is against the rules. The jury then gave him a choice: either drop back to the peloton or accept a penalty and continue riding. With a long Tour de France still ahead of him, the Dutch rider chose the former. Decide for yourself: was the penalty justified, or not?