2023 Tour de France Femmes: Demi Vollering given 20-second penalty for drafting on Stage 5

The SD Worx car pulled out of the convoy and Vollering moved into its slipstream in a move that isn’t allowed. Officials immediately drew level with the car and expressed displeasure at the manoeuvre.

Vollering, who began the day second on general classification, was looking to rejoin the peloton after suffering a puncture.

However, following the incident, she has now lost time to leader Lotte Kopecky and dropped from second to seventh in the overall standings, going from 43 seconds down to one minute and three seconds back.

Vollering was personally fined 100 Swiss Francs (c. £90), with her team incurring their own fine of 200 CHF (£180).

Following the race on the motorbike, former Dutch cyclist Iris Slappendel was critical of the move, labelling it “very dangerous” and explaining the importance of respecting the rules of the road.

“When you have a mechanical issue or a crash, as a rider you have to go back through the convoy on the right side of the road,” she said on Eurosport.

“So the whole convoy is lined up at the right side, which gives space to other sport directors to move up on the left side, for example to service their rider.

“And what you really cannot do as a sport director is move up on the left side with a rider on your bumper.

“That’s something we just saw happening with Team SD Worx, it’s a very dangerous situation.

“There are motors on the left side of the road, there are other sport directors on the right side of the road that might go out of that row on the right to service their riders.

“So it’s really important to stick to these rules that we have in the convoy to make sure that everyone is safe: sport directors, riders and also us on the motorbikes, of course.”