UAE Emirates XRG team director suspended

Fabrizio Guidi has been suspended for seven days. The team manager of UAE Emirates XRG received two yellow cards during the Santos Tour Down Under. The suspension started on Sunday.

Guidi received his first offense in the second stage of the Santos Tour Down Under. The jury issued him a yellow card because a "breach of regulations or guidelines concerning vehicle movements during the race or failure to comply with the instructions of commissaires and/or the organisation", according to the UCI website. In the fifth stage of the Australian stage race, he was penalized again for the same offense.

Two yellow cards in one one-day race or in one stage race results in a disqualification and a seven-day suspension, which starts on the day after the last yellow card. Guidi (a former professional rider for teams such as Polti, CSC, and Phonak Hearing Systems) was therefore not allowed to be in the team car during the sixth and final stage of the Tour Down Under. His suspension started that same day and will last through the following Saturday.

No immediate consequences
In practice, the 53-year-old Guidi will likely not have to miss any races. Since the Italian is currently in Australia, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is probably his next race as a team manager. On the exact day this race takes place, his suspension will have already ended. However, a third yellow card within 30 days will lead to a longer suspension, as shown in the box below.