During the fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico race, which finished up in Italy yesterday, Julian Alaphilippe got a little too warm. He decided that removing his base layer would take care of the problem, so he rode next to one his team’s domestiques in the peloton and began the process of base layer removal.
Why do we call it a process? Because in order for cyclists to remove their base layer—the garment we wear closest to the skin whose job it is to either help keep us either cooler or warmer, depending on the type of fabric and design—we have to remove all the other layers first. Which means that Julian Alaphilippe essentially took off a good portion of his clothes during stage four while riding.
The UCI wasn’t happy, but not for the reason you’d expect
Alaphilippe also promptly got a UCI fine of 500 Swiss francs for his on-the-bike outfit rearrangement, but it wasn’t for getting half-nakey. In a move that prompted Soudal-QuickStep team manager Patrick Lefevere to use his column in Het Nieuwsblad to attack the UCI, cycling’s governing body dinged Alaphilippe for “inappropriate behavior that damages the image of cycling.”
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It wasn’t the removal of garments that had the UCI in a tizzy, but rather it was levying the fine because for a few minutes, Alaphilippe removed his helmet. You see, the UCI has rules on the books that require racers to wear helmets at all times during the race, no matter what. And the UCI sure does love its rules.
“I’m not saying the UCI should applaud when a rider takes off his helmet, we shouldn’t downplay safety, but should the federation also impose a fine on itself if a bollard suddenly becomes apparent in the road in the last kilometre of Paris-Nice? I didn’t see that in the official communiqué,” Lefevere wrote, referencing the many course safety concerns that have been brought up again and again by riders.
What other things would we like to see the UCI focus on a little more instead of petty fines? Ensuring rider safety certainly tops our list.
And while they’re at it, finally putting an end to sexism and gender discrimination would be pretty great, too. After all, blatant discrimination is also “inappropriate behavior that damages the image of cycling.”
Natascha Grief got her first bike shop job before she was old enough to drink. After a six-year stint as a mechanic, earning a couple pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanics license, she became obsessed with framebuilding and decided she wanted to do that next. After Albert Eistentraut literally shooed her off his doorstep, admonishing that if she pursued framebuilding she will be poor forever, she landed an apprenticeship with framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, CA. After that, she spent several years working for both large and not-so-large cycling brands. Somewhere in there she also became a certified bike fitter. Natascha then became a certified personal trainer and spent nine years honing her skills as a trainer and coach, while also teaching Spin. During the dumpster fire that was the year 2020, she opened a fitness studio and began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer. In 2022, she joined the staff of Bicycling as News Editor.
