A mild penalty for Lenny Martinez’s extremely sticky bidon and his directeur sportif ahead of a crucial mountain sprint, contrasted with a hefty fine for the INEOS Grenadiers’ directeur sportif who ran over an inattentive spectator: these are just a few examples where the Visma | Lease a Bike boss sees an imbalance in the sanctions handed out by the race jury in the Tour de France.
In particular, Plugge took issue with the jury’s leniency regarding the tactics of Martinez and his directeur sportif. "This does not belong in the sport, especially when you’re fighting for points or a jersey," he said in Vive le Vélo.
"If you’re desperately trying to stay on, that’s also not allowed, but this is something that really matters. The consistency of the jury is a big problem. You have to be able to trust that the UCI enforces the rules as they are, and very often that doesn’t happen. That makes it very unclear."
Plugge doesn’t understand the huge difference between the €500 fine Martinez received and the €5,000 fine given to the INEOS Grenadiers directeur sportif after the collision. "Why is that? That INEOS Grenadiers rider was riding in the middle of the road. The big question is why the public is standing there and why the organizers didn’t make sure those people are behind barriers. Why doesn’t the organization get a 5,000 Swiss franc fine to even things out? That often makes it very unclear for us."
