Zonneveld furious over UCI warnings to Riejanne Markus: ‘Double standards’

Thijs Zonneveld has had enough of the UCI and its increasingly close scrutiny of riders’ positions on the bike, particularly when they are attacking at the front of a race. According to the Dutch journalist, Riejanne Markus received two warnings during stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes because officials considered her aerodynamic position dangerous. Zonneveld even believes the intervention may have cost the Lidl-Trek rider the stage victory.

Markus attacked inside the final 40 kilometres of the second stage and remained out in front on her own for a surprisingly long time. She was only caught by the peloton with around 400 metres remaining, after SD Worx-Protime had used almost its entire team to bring her back for Lorena Wiebes. ‘More than anything, I’m very happy with how I’m feeling, but when you come that close, it still feels pretty bitter,’ Markus said afterwards.

In an interview with Zonneveld for La Koers, the pair first focused on the courage and strength behind the attack itself. ‘We knew beforehand that it was going to be very difficult, but as a team we simply want to keep trying every day,’ Markus explained. ‘It took them a long time to get to me. At one point I heard the gap was still 15 seconds, so I thought they might have been misjudging it slightly.’

The fact that Markus told several media outlets that she was feeling strong made it even more frustrating that the UCI intervened during the decisive part of the stage because of her position on the bike. She initially rode in the familiar aerodynamic position with her hands on the brake hoods, but she later told Zonneveld that after the UCI’s warning, she completed the remainder of her solo attack with her hands in the drops.

‘Markus was apparently not holding her handlebars in the correct way. She was told she could no longer ride with her hands on the hoods,’ Zonneveld explained, becoming visibly angry about the situation. ‘When your hands are on the hoods, your wrists can lightly touch the handlebars. That is something we see in every race, from virtually every rider, all the time. That certainly includes the biggest names in both the men’s and women’s pelotons.’

‘We saw Pogačar, Seixas and Vingegaard do it countless times during the Tour de France,’ the journalist continued. ‘I find it completely absurd that the UCI has suddenly decided to monitor this so closely, drive alongside a rider and issue warnings because her wrist may have touched the handlebar. The rule is unbelievably vague. It makes absolutely no sense.’

Zonneveld and Jip van den Bos were both furious, arguing that the same position is rarely penalised inside the peloton and is far more difficult for officials to monitor there. Television pictures even appeared to show Anna van der Breggen riding at the front of the bunch with her hands on the hoods. ‘It is a clear case of double standards, and I really don’t think this is acceptable,’ Zonneveld said.

‘I also don’t think it is acceptable that a breakaway rider is effectively forced to ride in the drops,’ he added. ‘Your wrists are allowed to touch the handlebars. You simply cannot use them as a point of support, and you must continue holding the brake hoods. I did not see Markus do anything illegal, such as barely keeping hold of the hoods with only her little fingers.’

‘Completely ridiculous,’ Van den Bos agreed. She explained that the rule was originally introduced because riders had previously adopted a position in which their wrists or forearms rested fully on the handlebars, with their hands folded inwards and no proper grip on the controls. According to Zonneveld, however, the position Markus used was not dangerous. It was simply intended to reduce aerodynamic drag while she was riding alone.

Because Markus spent the final 20 kilometres riding in the drops, the enforced change may have cost her valuable seconds — potentially the difference between victory and defeat. ‘Wind-tunnel testing has shown that when you sit slightly higher while keeping your forearms horizontal, rather than having them more vertical while riding in the drops, your forearms present a smaller frontal area,’ Zonneveld explained.

Combined with a compact, tucked upper-body position, riding on the hoods can now be more aerodynamically efficient than riding in the drops. ‘That is why I don’t think it is acceptable for them to apply this rule in a way that disadvantages riders who have attacked from the peloton,’ Zonneveld concluded.