Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United) and a TV motorbike pilot were each given yellow cards during stage 19 of the Vuelta a España, bringing the total in the race to eight.
Tronchon was part of the breakaway on the stage to Peñas Blancas and given the yellow card for riding in a 'noncompliant position'.
The motorbike driver was given a 500CHF fine and yellow card for 'Breach of guidelines concerning vehicle movements during the race', according to the communique.'
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Two sports directors were fined 500CHF for 'Breach of guidelines concerning vehicle movements during the race and failure to comply with the instructions of the commissaires', too.
Over the three weeks and 21 days of racing in a Grand Tour, there are many chances for riders and teams to break rules – purposefully or inadvertently.
Penalties can be issued for many things, from small issues like feeding too late in a stage or dropping litter outside the designated zone to bigger ones like dangerous sprint deviations and/or prolonged sticky bottles.
Punishments can include cash fines, ranging from a few hundred Swiss francs to the thousands (fines are always issued in Swiss francs, CHF, the currency of the UCI). Riders can also be punished with time deductions, point deductions in certain classifications, relegation, even disqualification for the most serious infringements.
Penalties are generally proportional to the offence; for example, dropping litter may result in a cash fine, but a sticky bottle that saves time might earn a time penalty. Cash fines are generally deducted from the team's prize money haul at the end of the race.
Dangerous infractions can also earn a rider a yellow card, a system introduced a couple of years ago. If a rider or staff member receives more than one yellow card in the same race, they are disqualified and suspended for seven days. Three in 30 days earns a 14-day suspension, whilst six in a year means a 30-day suspension – though this is yet to happen.
The race jury hands out penalties and records them in each day's communiqué.
We are tracking all penalties handed out during the 2026 Vuelta a España.
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Vuelta a España 2026 fines, penalties and yellow cards
Stage 1-4
Stage 5
- Alexey Lutsenko (NSN Cycling): Deviation from the chosen line that endangers another rider during the final sprint (blow from the elbow) - Yellow card
- Orluis Aular (Movistar): Deviation from the chosen line that endangers another rider during the final sprint (blow from the elbow) - Yellow card, Relegation, -8 points toward green jersey
- Sven Vanthourenhout (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe DS) - Rider disposing of waste or other objects outside of litter zones, or not returned to team or organisation staff - 500CHF fine
Stage 7
- Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana) - yellow card for 'Improper conduct that endangers others'
- Irregular feeding: Alexey Lutsenko (NSN), Lorenzo Fortunato and Hekok Mulueberhan (XDS Astana) - 200CHF each. Also, Decathlon DS Cyril Dessel, XDS Astana DS Alexandr Shefer, and NSN DS Jonathan McCarty 500CHF each.
Stage 8
- Sven Vanthourenhout (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe DS) - 500 CFH fine for a rider disposing of waste or other objects outside of litter zones
Stage 9
- Rafael Ferri Valls (Jayco-AlUla DS) - 200CHF for failing to respect the instructions of the commissaires.
- Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates-XRG DS) - 500CHF for irregular feeding
Stage 12
- Enric Mas, Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar), Jakob Ormzel (Bahrain Victorious), Valentin Paret Peintre (Soudal-Quickstep) and Jarno Widar (Lotto Intermarché) - 'Rider disposing of waste outside of litter zones' - 500CHF, -25 UCI points each
- Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ United), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Marco Brenner (Tudor) and Chris Hamilton (Picnic-PostNL) - 'Irregular feeding - feeding from team car in a posted feed zone' - 200CHF
- Jens Keukeleire (Alpecin DS), Bart Leysen (Tudor DS), Benoit Vaugrenard (Groupama DS) and Phil West (Picnic DS) - 500CHF for Irregular feeding
Stage 15
- Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) - 200CHF fine for irregular feeding, 'sticky bottle' for a short distance
- Sven Vanthourenhout (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe DS) - 500CHF fine for irregular feeding, 'sticky bottle' for a short distance
Stage 17
- Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quickstep) - 200CHF Irregular feeding (Feeding rider by team car in a feed zone signposted by the organiser)
- Tom Steels (Soudal-Quickstep DS) - 500CHF Irregular feeding (Feeding rider by team car in a feed zone signposted by the organiser)
Stage 19
- Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United) - yellow card for noncompliant position
- Mikel Ezkieta (Kern Pharma DS) and Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates DS) - 500CHF for vehicle movements
- Marin Doblas (TV Moto pilot) - 500CHF, yellow card for vehicle movements
