Peter Kennaugh says rules ‘out of control’ as riders fined by UCI for late sign on

Peter Kennaugh has criticised ‘out of control’ rules after riders were fined for signing on late before stage three of the UAE Tour.

The Bora-Hansgrohe pro was speaking on behalf of riders from four other teams, who were all penalised for "failing to respect the order and the timing of signing the sign-on sheet."

A total of 27 riders from Katusha-Alpecin, UAE Team Emirates, Groupama-FDJ and Astana were all fined at the end of stage three for being late to the ceremony at the start of the day.

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The riders were fined 500 Swiss Francs each (£377) and deducted 20 UCI points per rider, while their team mangers were charged 100 Swiss Francs (£754).

Kennaugh, whose team were not involved, told Cycling Weekly: “It’s out of control if you ask me.

"How can you set a rule that if you’re late for sign-on this happens. People in the UCI must not understand what’s involved in getting to a bike race.

"I’m stood here chatting to you, it wouldn’t be possible because I’d be worried about getting there on time.

“Do they want us to leave the hotel at 7am so we can get to the stage two hours before so we can then have time to get ready, talk to the press, talk to fans?

“It’s just another one of those rules that makes no sense.”

Riders fined include Marcel Kittel and Alex Dowsett from Katusha, Alexander Kristoff and Fernando Gaviria from UAE Team Emirates, and Gorka Izagirre from Astana.

Katusha were 34 minutes late to sign on, UAE 30 minutes, Groupama 21 minutes and Astana 14 minutes.

UCI rules state that race organisers can set the order for riders to sign a starting sheet before each stage.

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The signing on ceremony takes place one hour and 10 minutes before the start time for the stage, and will end 10 minutes before the race kicks off.

Stage three of the 2019 UAE Tour was a 179km run from UAE University to Jebel Hafeet.

Riders had a 172km transfer from their hotels in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi to the start line in Al Ain before the race.

Kennaugh added: “I understand you’ve got to sign on. But if you sign on within 10 minutes of the start like it usually is, that should be okay.

“It’s just hypocrisy.”