Tadej Pogačar’s podium appearance at Liège-Bastogne-Liège earned him a huge UCI fine – which was removed a few hours later. Why?
Tadej Pogačar’s latest monument win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège was proof of a few things: the Slovenian’s firm grip at the top of the sport, Paul Seixas’ rapid rise to challenge him, and the UCI’s inconsistent application of its own rules.
The latter manifested itself in the post-race jury report, with Pogačar walloped with a 5,000 CHF (~US$6,350 / €5,400) fine for violating UCI Article 1.3.072.6: World Champion Equipment – specifically for the “wrong place of the publicity on the world champion jersey during the award ceremony.”
Around five hours later, this was quietly retracted. Neither the UCI nor the race jury has made any public comment on why the fine was specifically imposed in the first place, nor why it was revoked.
So what can we figure out? Let’s have a look.
A search for precedent
Firstly, we now have further evidence that the UCI takes its rainbow bands extremely seriously. We abstractly knew this to be the case: in 2025, there was a polite but forceful push from the UCI to remove the bike and component manufacturer Ritchey’s right to use the rainbow bands – despite the fact that Ritchey was using them a full couple of decades before the UCI was granted a trademark in early 2010.
Courtesy of Pogačar yesterday, there’s now a monetary value attached to how severely the UCI views this type of infraction, and 5,000 CHF is at the extreme upper end of the financial penalties that the UCI doles out. For some context: Kiaan Watts punching another rider in the head mid-race elicited a 200 CHF fine. Isaac del Toro’s nipples being out that one time: 200 CHF. Lenny Martinez with one of the most egregious sticky bottles in recent memory: 200 CHF.
Behold, Isaac del Toro’s banned nipples
Chest buttons so spicy they “damage the image of sport”.
While that may sound like the UCI juries have a one-size-fits-all approach to how they levy their fines, don’t be fooled. Jhonatan Narváez improperly disposing of litter at the 2025 Tour de France (500 CHF) is, in the inconsistently applied logic of the UCI commissaires, a greater offence than Arnaud de Lie having a public toilet break in the same race (200 CHF), or, for that matter, Julien Bernard kissing his wife at the 2024 Tour de France (also 200 CHF).
Julien Bernard’s illicit ‘dream moment’: What is cycling if not this?
It was a dream for hometown hero Julien Bernard to spend a few seconds with his family and friends on stage 7, but the UCI was having none of it.
So what kind of offense does get you anywhere near Pogačar’s 5,000 CHF fine, if punching someone in the head at 45 km/h does not? Something pretty bad, that’s what!
The Bulgarian Cycling Federation’s vice-president, Danail Petrov Angelov, copped the same penalty for “psychological abuse” related to “incidents of verbal assault and intimidation towards members of the cycling community”, along with a two-year ban. And for in-race incidents, you have to do something pretty egregious – like, say, Ineos Grenadiers’ director Oliver Cookson literally running over a spectator with a team car in the 2025 Tour.
What did Pogačar do?
There was some speculation that the presence of a black armband, as worn during the race, might have been the culprit – a mark of mourning for the death of Pogačar’s former teammate, Cristian Camilo Muñoz, after an infection following a recent crash. But, although this armband blocked the left rainbow armbands, the specifics cited in the jury report make it clear that this is not the cause: we must search deeper in the dusty depths of the UCI’s website for a rationale.
The answer likely lies in the snappily titled ‘UCI Jerseys Visual Guidelines: Manufacturer Specifications & Model Variations (Version 5.3 [April 2025])’, a 117-page document that specifies when the UCI logo can be used and in what specific locations. There are guidelines around proportions, positioning, colour order, applications, and ‘safety distance’ between logos or other design elements.
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