'It’s dangerous!' - Barbara Malcotti booted out of Tour de France Femmes after team car breaks rule

ByBen Snowball

Updated 28/07/2022 at 18:06 GMT

Barbara Malcotti’s Tour de France Femmes was cut short after she received mechanical assistance in the wrong way. But was the decision harsh to penalise a rider for what appeared an error from her team, Human Powered Health? That’s the view of Eurosport expert Dani Rowe, who called the disqualification “harsh”. Malcotti was 60th in the general classification heading into Stage 5.

Barbara Malcotti (Human Powered Health) was disqualified from the Tour de France Femmes after receiving ‘irregular assistance’ from her team car on Stage 5.

The Italian was spotted receiving mechanical assistance from a vehicle parked on the side of the road as the peloton swept past on the marathon run from Bar-le-Duc to Saint-Die-des-Vosges.

Cycling regulations dictate that riders in the peloton must wait for help from a car behind them on the road, with Malcotti promptly booted out of the Tour after her team flouted that rule.

Tour de France Femmes

'I didn't know I hadn't won' - Vollering on Stage 4 confusion after Kastelijn victory

27/07/2023 at 13:47

“That’s so unfortunate for her,” said Dani Christmas on Eurosport commentary.

“It’s something that the team should know. It’s not the rider’s fault at all. That is the fault of the DS [directeur sportif], of the mechanic.

“I’m lost for words. It’s such a rookie mistake for the team to make, to have a rider disqualified because they stopped in an irregular manner to service a rider from the side of the road.”

Malcotti was caught up in the huge crash earlier in the stage, which saw almost half the peloton impacted and Emma Norsgaard (Movistar) leave the race in an ambulance.

• 'Should that happen?!' – Longo Borghini goes wrong way in final-corner gaffe
• Wiebes roars to Stage 5 victory, Vos increases lead

“We keep on saying there’s so much chaos that’s going on,” continued Christmas.

“They [the team] will have seen the huge crash that went on. When they have a rider that’s been impacted in that crash, the first thing they want to do is just help them and get them back up and running as quickly as possible.

“So sometimes when everyone’s on the limit, decision-making isn’t the best. But of course, that’s the fault of the team.”

‘Pretty harsh’ – Was Malcotti’s disqualification unfair?

Dani Rowe felt the penalty was unfair, given Malcotti was punished for a team error.

“It seems harsh to punish a rider in that instance. The team should know the rules,” she said.

Expanding on the incident after the stage in The Breakaway, Rowe continued: “Essentially you cannot have assistance from a car at the front of the peloton, it’s dangerous.

“You’ve got a peloton of over 100 riders. The peloton are coming up so fast, they’re almost being forced to one side of the road with the car being there. It’s just against the rules.

“It was a pretty harsh decision to disqualify Malcotti as an individual because I think it was more up to the race car, the directeur sportif to know the rules, not be in that position and not put her in that position either.”

- - -

Stream the Tour de France Femmes live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

Tour de France Femmes

Inside FDJ at TDF Femmes: Uttrup Ludwig soars as new era begins in women’s cycling

00:03:51

|

04/08/2022 at 10:48

Tour de France Femmes

Opinion: Tour de France Femmes is on the map – now let’s keep it there

02/08/2022 at 10:14

Tour de France Femmes

‘I hope no one replaces her’ - Why Van Vleuten's retirement might be good for cycling

01/08/2022 at 13:44