Riders warned not to urinate in bottles and discard them at the Giro d'Italia

The organisers of the Giro d’Italia have made an unusual plea to riders, reminding them that it is “strictly prohibited” to urinate in bottles and toss them to the roadside.

The message came at the bottom of the jury report following Sunday’s ninth stage, which was won by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in Corno alle Scale.

Simply titled ‘statement’, it read: “To respect the image of cycling and the Giro d’Italia, the Organiser and the Commissaires’ Panel inform all riders that urinating into a bottle and subsequently discarding it is strictly prohibited.”

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The jury did not name any riders guilty of the offence within the statement. They did, however, give a 200 CHF (£190 / $255) fine to Lotto Intermarché’s Lennert Van Eetvelt for “urinating in front of the public during the race at km 33” of the same stage.

UCI rule 8.6 prohibits riders from “unseemly or inappropriate behaviour (in particular undressing or urinating in public at the start or finish or during the race) and damage to the image of the sport”. This offence carries a fine of 200 CHF to 500 CHF (£475 / $637) in a WorldTour race like the Giro d’Italia.

There is no specific rule relating to urinating in a bottle and discarding it. On disposing of bottles, the UCI rulebook says: “The rider must safely and exclusively deposit their waste on the sides of the road in the litter zones provided by the organiser. The rider may not jettison anything on the roadway itself. The rider may also dispose of bottles and clothing to team cars or organisation vehicles or with the team staff in charge of riders’ feeding.”

If a rider is deemed to have disposed of waste “in a careless or dangerous manner”, they can receive a fine of 500 CHF and a penalty of 25 UCI points. As examples of what constitutes this behaviour, the UCI lists: “bottle or other object remaining or bouncing back on the road, thrown directly or with excessive force at spectator, causing dangerous manoeuvre by other rider or vehicle, causing spectator to move onto the road.”

Jayco AlUla’s Christopher Juul Jensen received a 200 CHF fine and was docked 25 UCI points for “disposing of waste or other objects outside of litter zones” on stage nine.

Likewise, Pinarello Q36.5 rider David de la Cruz was fined 500 CHF for “unseemly or inappropriate behaviour and damage to the image of sport”. The jury did not specify what this was in relation to. A team representative told Cycling Weekly they understood the sanction to come as a result of an in-race incident involving a bottle.

It is common for riders to urinate at the side of the road in races. Grand Tour stages can sometimes last more than six hours, with riders required to drink litres of water to stay hydrated. As such, riders are typically forgiven for taking nature breaks on quieter stretches of the route, where there are little to no spectators.