UCI Fines Pogacar and Evenepoel After Tour of Flanders — Littering and Sticky Bottles Join the Post-Race Fallout
The UCI commissaires panel has issued fines to both Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel following the 2026 Tour of Flanders, adding a bureaucratic footnote to what was otherwise a day of breathtaking racing. Pogacar was fined 500 Swiss Francs and docked 25 UCI ranking points for discarding race waste outside a designated litter zone, while Evenepoel received a 200 Swiss Franc fine for holding onto his team car for too long during a bottle exchange — the classic "sticky bottle" offence that has been a point of contention in professional cycling for decades.
The littering penalty against the race winner is the more consequential of the two from a sporting standpoint. Under the UCI's environmental regulations, introduced in 2021 and tightened further for 2025, riders are required to dispose of bidons, gel wrappers and food packaging only within marked 'litter zones' on the race route. Pogacar was observed discarding a bidon outside these zones during the final 80 kilometres of racing — a period in which, by his own admission, his focus was entirely on the tactical battle unfolding on the cobbled climbs of the Flemish Ardennes rather than on the location of the nearest recycling point.
The 25-point UCI deduction is unlikely to trouble Pogacar's standings at the top of the world rankings, where the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider holds a commanding lead after victories at Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and now Flanders. But the penalty underscores a broader pattern of enforcement that has drawn criticism from riders and team managers who argue the littering rules, while well-intentioned, create situations where riders must choose between race-critical nutrition and regulatory compliance at the most decisive moments of competition.
Evenepoel's sticky bottle fine was more straightforward. Television footage showed the Belgian clasping the hand of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe directeur sportif Sven Vanthourenhout through the car window during a bottle exchange in the race's middle third, holding on for several seconds longer than the brief contact permitted under UCI regulations. Vanthourenhout himself received a separate 500 Swiss Franc fine for the same incident — a reminder that the team car occupants bear responsibility alongside the rider.
Neither fine is likely to register as more than a minor irritation for the two stars of the Ronde. Pogacar's attention has already turned to Paris-Roubaix on April 12, where a victory would complete the Monument Grand Slam, while Evenepoel is targeting the Ardennes Classics campaign beginning with Amstel Gold Race on April 19. The fines are routine in the context of a WorldTour season, but they add to an unusually eventful post-race period that also includes the Flemish prosecutor's investigation into the level crossing incident — a far more serious legal matter that could see the same riders facing penalties of up to 4,000 euros under Belgian traffic law.
The UCI communiqué also confirmed a handful of other penalties from the race, including minor fines for drafting behind team cars and irregular feeding. In total, nine riders and four team vehicles were sanctioned across the men's and women's races — a typical haul for a Monument-level event where the intensity of competition often pushes the boundaries of the rule book.
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