Vollering and teammates fined for urinating in public at Tour de France Femmes – but where are riders supposed to pee?

Demi Vollering and her FDJ United-SUEZ teammates Juliette Berthet and Célia Gery were each fined CHF100 on Friday for public urination during stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, which finished atop Mont Ventoux.

The offence falls under article 2.12.007, section 8.6 of the UCI regulations, which covers "unseemly or inappropriate behaviour", including undressing or urinating in public during a race.

At a Women’s WorldTour race such as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the fine runs between CHF100 and CHF200. And while three FDJ riders received the minimum sanction, the fines do highlight some of the practical difficulties around nature breaks.

When and where are riders allowed to pee?

The UCI regulations are clear on what riders can be fined for, but offer little guidance on where and when riders are actually supposed to pee. There is no formal nature-break zone or designated time.

Instead, the peloton has traditionally governed itself through convention. Once a breakaway is established and the race settles down, riders may collectively choose a quieter section of road, away from towns and spectators, to stop. The bunch eases off, a group pulls over and, traditionally at least, nobody attacks.

But that is convention, not regulation, and modern racing does not always provide the lull required for it.

At this edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, much of the racing has been relentlessly aggressive, with attacks and counter-attacks beginning almost immediately. There have been precious few calm moments for the peloton to take a collective nature break.

Friday was, remarkably, one of the first.

"So many people [peed] today, I’m surprised there aren’t more [fines]," one rider told Cycling Weekly. "I feel like it’s the first stage we could even do that. Finally it wasn’t full gas from 0km."

For the women’s peloton, there is also the issue of mechanics to contend with.

Male riders can generally make a roadside stop relatively quickly without having to undress. If the race is moving quickly, some can even urinate while riding, moving to the edge of the road and occasionally relying on a teammate for a push.

For women, the process is more cumbersome. A rider generally needs to stop, dismount and lower her shorts enough to squat. Depending on her clothing, that may also mean undoing or removing part of her jersey. And with one-piece race suits becoming increasingly common, a nature break means undressing almost fully.

Finding a section of the course that is not considered "in public" can be difficult, too, particularly on a race such as the Tour de France Femmes where spectators line the road, television cameras rove through the convoy and, as on Friday's stage, there's a lot of exposed terrain.

Stopping can also have a competitive risk, something Vollering knows all too well.

At the 2023 Vuelta Femenina, Vollering and several SD Worx teammates stopped for a nature break just as Movistar began forcing the pace ahead of a crosswind section. Vollering, who had started the day in the red leader’s jersey, found herself chasing after the race split apart and eventually finished 1:04 behind the leaders. She lost the Vuelta to Annemiek van Vleuten the following day by just nine seconds.

To that end, a CHF100 fine may be a price riders are happy to pay if the yellow jersey is on the line. That, or simply keep quiet and let it flow.