Victor Campenaerts must stay extra alert after yellow card: "A moment of inattention"

Victor Campenaerts must remain cautious in the coming days at Paris-Nice. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider received a yellow card after the opening stage for careless or dangerous littering at the finish line.

Campenaerts decided to throw a water bottle towards a fan at the finish on Sunday, but this goes against UCI regulations. Not only did he receive a yellow card, but he was also fined 500 Swiss francs and had 25 points deducted from his UCI ranking.

"The rules regarding throwing away bottles were recently changed. Currently, you are allowed to discard your bottle when riding uphill and there is a crowd," said the Belgian before the start of the second stage on Sporza and Het Nieuwsblad.

On alert
"I threw away a bottle in the finish zone and I think many people were happy with that at the time, but that is not according to the rules. If it’s flat, you are not allowed to throw away your bottle."

The time trialist admits responsibility. "It was carelessness on my part and definitely something to learn from, because it is punished strictly. A second yellow card in the same race leads to disqualification. They have to follow the rules and of course it’s my fault that I didn’t do that this time."