Two riders were ejected from race and six riders fined for urinating in public during stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia Women, a 146 kilometre day of racing from Longarone to Santo Stefano di Cadore.
It was Continental riders, Argyro Milaki (Aromitalia Vaiano) and Anita Baima (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria) who had their race cut short by the disqualification and they were also handed fines, docked UCI points and given yellow cards for holding onto team cars during the demanding mountain stage. Isolmant sport director Manel Lacambra was also fined, given a yellow card and ejected from the race.
The UCI has strict rules surrounding assistance from team cars, with riders being fined for holding onto bidons ('sticky bottles'). Riders can also be fined for drafting behind a vehicle, but disqualification only comes for multiple offences.
Holding onto a team car or other vehicle is a far more serious offence that comes with a mandatory fine, UCI point penalty and disqualification. The yellow card is optional.
These are just the latest round of sanctions in an event which started with the controversial disqualification of Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) due to the weight of her bike after she had sprinted to victory on stage 1 and collected the race leader's jersey.
With hours of racing every day for nine days, the Grand Tours often see many penalties handed out, which are all listed in the race jury's communiqué after each stage.
These can be for things as simple as dropping litter outside of the designated zone, or as serious as riding dangerously in a sprint. Punishments can range from small fines and point or time deductions to yellow cards or in very serious cases, disqualification.
Penalties can be given to riders and staff alike, and to other members of the race convoy, though here we will just track riders and team staff.
Yellow cards can also be handed out alongside penalties, and if you get more than one in the same race, you are disqualified and suspended for seven days. Three in 30 days equals a 14 day suspension, and six in a year means a 30-day suspension.
Here is our list of all the penalties incurred so far during this year's Giro d'Italia Women.
Giro d'Italia Women 2026 penalties
Stage 1
- Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-ProTime) - DSQ, bike under UCI weight limit
- Danny Stam (SD Worx-ProTime) - 500CHF, bike under UCI weight limit
Stage 2
- Davide Gani (Picnic-PostNL DS) - 500CHF for failing to follow commissaires' instructions
Stage 3
- Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech) - CHF 200 fine, yellow card, and 25% penalty in the points classification and relegation to last place in the rider’s group for deviation from the chosen line that obstructs or endangers another rider or irregular sprint
- Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM) - 100 CHF fine for unseemly or inappropriate behaviour and damage to the image of sport
- Yulia Biriukova, Tiril Jorgensen (Laboral Kutxa - Fundacion Euskadi) - CHF 100 fine each for unseemly or inappropriate behaviour (in particular undressing or urinating in public at the start or finish or during the race) and damage to the image of sport
Stage 4
- Carmen Small (EF Education-Oatly DS) - 200CHF for failing to follow commissaires' instructions
Stage 5
- Argiro Milaki (Aromitalia Vaiano) and Anita Baima (Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria) - CHF 200 fine, 50 points from UCI rankings, disqualification and yellow card to each rider for holding on to own team vehicle, or vehicle of another team. Plus CHF 200 fine, exclusion and yellow card for Isolmant Premac Vittoria DS Manel Lacambra Cuixart
- Célia Gery, Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez), Niamh Fisher-Black, Elisa Balsamo, Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) and Silke Smulders (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) - 100CHF for public urination
- Laboral Kutxa Fundacion Euskadi staff Ainara Sanz Val-Romero - 200CHF for failing to follow instructions of organiser
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our Giro d'Italia Women coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from one of the biggest women's stage races of the season. Find out more.
