How does the yellow card system work for cyclists, which can lead to exclusion from the Tour de France?

Cycling is a sport with largely unchanging rules. Everyone starts behind the same starting line and races towards the same finish line, generally 150 to 200 kilometers away: the first to cross it wins. It's been like this for over a century and, a priori, there's no reason for it to change. However, the details evolve and the International Cycling Union (UCI), the organization that oversees the sport at the global level, regularly incorporates new points of regulation, in particular to ensure better safety for riders. This 2025 season thus sees the appearance of yellow cards intended to suppress the most dangerous behavior in the peloton, "on a recommendation from SafeR, the structure dedicated to safety in men's and women's road cycling," explains the UCI. We explain how it works.

No. While the spirit is the same as in other team (football, rugby, etc.) or individual (judo, for example) disciplines, yellow cards in cycling do not have a "physical existence" as the UCI says. On the other hand, they do serve to punish, in the form of a warning, violations of the regulations. They are issued by the UCI commissaires, the equivalent of the ar