Belgian rider Dries De Bondt has been referred to the UCI's ethics commission after he allegedly helped another team at last month's Giro d'Italia.
Various media reports quoted the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Rider after stage 20 as suggesting that he aided Richard Carapaz (EF-Education-EasyPost) on the Colle delle Finestre.
De Bondt was part of an initial breakaway that was caught on the climb, before Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) passed the remnants of the group after launching his eventual Giro winning attack.
Carapaz and the race leader at the time, Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), eventually made it across to De Bondt who proceeded to pace the two riders for several minutes which could have aided them in their pursuit of Yates. At the time, it was a a seemingly bizarre move as De Bondt was riding for another team and had no role to play in the GC standings.
When questioned on what he was attempting to achieve, De Bondt made no effort to hide the fact that he was trying to secure a contract from elsewhere due to his situation with Decathlon being in the balance.
"I still haven't received clarity from my team whether I will be allowed to stay in 2026. So, it seemed like a good idea to market myself during the Giro," De Bondt told WielerFlits. He also admitted that he had told fellow Belgian and EF Education-EasyPost coach Ken Vanmarcke before the race that he was "on the market."
In a press release issued on Friday, a UCI spokesperson said that the 33-year-old’s comments were "clearly of a nature to call into question the integrity of the competition" and he will now be investigated.
"According to his comments, reported by several media, Dries De Bondt deliberately helped a rider from the EF Education-Easy Post team following a suggestion from one of that team's Sport Directors that this could help the rider secure a contract offer for next season," the spokesperson said.
"On this basis, the UCI has decided to refer the matter to its Ethics Commission for a ruling on the facts and to consider possible sanctions against the rider and/or the Sport Director if their behavior is found to be in breach of the UCI Code of Ethics, in particular Articles 8.1 and 2 of Annex 2. No further comment will be made until the conclusion of the proceedings."
