Sticky bottle Martinez was "miscommunication" according to his sports director, Richard Plugge criticizes jury decision: "Lack of consistency is a major problem"

Martinez received three extra pushes in quick succession to help him catch up with the riders ahead of him. Thanks to the help of his team car, the polka dot jersey was able to pick up extra points for the mountains classification. A penalty was more than justified, which the 22-year-old rider would receive. During the stage, the jury announced that Martinez would have eight points deducted from the mountain classification.

The day after the incident, the camera crews turned to the sports director on duty, Romain Kreuziger. “I apologized and explained everything to the commissaires,” the former rider said, trying to take the blame. “There was some miscommunication between us, French and English, you know. It wasn't pretty, but it doesn't mean Lenny is a cheater or that he did anything wrong,” Kreuziger told Sporza.

The sports director of Bahrain Victorious then spoke about his rider. “He is still young and has a lot to learn. He came to our car on a part of the climb where it wasn't necessary. It was the easiest part. Because after that, he showed that he is punchy enough. We are trying to turn the negativity around today.”

The first reactions quickly appeared on social media. Later in the evening, Sep Vanmarcke told Vive le Velo that Martinez's punishment was not severe enough. "The sticky bottles were the only reason he scored 20 points. So they should at least be taken away. I don't think he needs to be removed from the race. I would leave it at a final warning, but make a strong statement to the team that this is not acceptable."

Next to the former rider sat Richard Plugge, sports director of Visma-Lease a Bike. Plugge believes that the jury should have taken more decisive action. "This is not part of the game, especially when you are fighting for points or a jersey. If you try to hang on while breathing heavily, that's also not allowed, but now there is something at stake."

Plugge knows what the problem is. "The lack of consistency on the part of the jury is a major problem. You must assume that the UCI will punish according to the rules, which is often not the case. That makes it very unclear."

The 55-year-old Plugge cites an example from earlier in this Tour, where a rider from INEOS Grenadiers collided with a spectator. The sports director in the car was fined 5,000 Swiss francs. Martinez and his team manager, Kreuziger, got away with 500 Swiss francs each. “Why, actually? The INEOS rider was riding in the middle of the road. The big question is why the crowd was standing there and why the organization didn't make sure those people were standing on the side. Why doesn't the organization get a fine of 5,000 Swiss francs to even things out? That often makes it very unclear to us.”