Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) swept across the road to find a gap in the stage 6 sprint at the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift, a deviation from her line that later saw her relegated from her fifth place finish.
After reviewing the footage, the race jury classified it as a move which hindered or endangered another rider.
Persico, who is sitting in third place overall, didn’t lose time but was put to the back of the main bunch, which left her in 39th place on the stage.
"After viewing the images of the finish from the helicopter, the jury has applied this decision. The reason is deviation from the chosen line thereby hindering or endangering another rider," read the jury statement.
In video of the race finish, Persico can be seen making a sharp shift of direction in the final metres of the stage, going across from right near the barrier over to the far side of the road before coming over the line as the fifth rider behind race leader Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) and Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo).
Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ceratizit-WNT) was sixth over the line, but could be seen taking evasive action and slowing as Persico swept in front of her. It is unclear whether or not Persico made contact with her compatriot.
Persico told Cyclingnews at the start of stage 7 that she always tries to be a respectful member of the peloton and was upset by the backlash on social media. She added that on seeing the video of the sprint her first reaction was to apologise to Confalonieri.
“I saw nobody so I started to cross the road,” said Persico when asked what she was thinking when she moved over in the sprint. “But I really didn't see anybody so when I saw the the video yesterday after the race I wrote to Maria Giulia immediately.”
The relegation to 39th makes it by far the worst stage result so far of the Tour de France Femmes for the 25-year-old, who finished seventh overall at the Giro d'Italia Donne. After finishing 14th on the Champs-Élysées, Persico then stepped up to second on the next stage to Provins, took fourth on stage 3 and then seventh on the next two days of racing.
Those results saw her move up to second on the overall from stage 2, though Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) swept up bonus seconds on stage 6 to push Persico back to third.
The battle for the overall is set to heat up on stages 7 and 8 as the race moves into the mountains, with Saturday's queen stage packing in a trio of category 1 ascents with the climbs of the Petit Ballon, Col du Platzerwasel and Grand Ballon.
Persico's team is hoping the Italian can hold onto a top 10 position through the mountains, but the Italian rider is aiming high. "I really want to take the yellow jersey," said Persico.
