After becoming the first rider to land a suspension under the UCI's new yellow card rules for 2025, Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has apologised for the actions which landed him the punishment at the Baloise Belgium Tour.
Dutchman Riesebeek received yellow cards on stages 2 and 5 of the 2.Pro stage race, both for the same regulation detail: "Use of sidewalks/pavements, paths or cycle lanes that do not form part of the race route."
His team confirmed on Monday afternoon that this meant Riesebeek would serve a seven-day suspension under the new rule (2.12.007ter), which states that "In case a licence-holder receives 2 yellow cards during the same event, they shall be excluded (in case of a stage race) from the event and be suspended for a period of 7 days."
"Both rider and team accept this correct and justified decision," read an Alpecin-Deceuninck statement.
"I accept the consequences of my actions. Of course, it's disappointing to miss the Nationals, but looking back, I realise my behaviour in the race was not only wrong, but also put fellow riders at risk," said Riesebeek, in the same team release.
"And that's something I sincerely regret and apologise for. The rules are clear. If they are applied consistently, I fully respect that. I'll now take some quiet time to recover and prepare for my next goals."
As a result of his suspension, Riesebeek will miss out on this week's Dutch national championships in his hometown, Ede, but this will not affect his participation at the Tour de France, where he should make up part of Jasper Philipsen's sprint train.
Had he not received a suspension, Riesebeek would have been a risk to take, as riders who receive three yellow cards in a period of 30 days should be met with a 14-day suspension from the day of the last one. Being suspended for seven days wipes the Dutchman's slate clean in the yellow card system.
Although Riesebeek admits his actions put others in danger, his second use of the sidewalk/pavement at the Baloise Belgium Tour actually did the most damage to himself, as he crashed and did not finish the stage race.
Thankfully, he didn't sustain any fractures as a result of the incident: "Following his crash in the final of the last stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour, Oscar Riesebeek was taken to the hospital in Jette for further examination. Fortunately, no fractures were diagnosed. Oscar is doing well under the circumstances."
