Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service) crossed the road to find a gap in the sprint of stage 6 of the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift.

After reviewing the footage, the race jury classified the action as obstructing or endangering other riders.

Persico, in third place overall, did not lose any time, but was forced to the back of the main group and placed 39th on the stage.

"After viewing the video of the finish from the helicopter, the jury applied this decision. The reason for this was that the deviation from the chosen line hindered or endangered the other riders.

Footage of the finish shows Persico making a sharp change of direction in the final meters of the stage, crossing from just short of the barriers to the other side of the road, race leader Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx), and Elisa Balsamo (Trek Segafredo) can be seen crossing the line as the fifth racer.

Maria Julia Confalonieri (Serratigit-WNT) finished sixth, but was seen taking evasive action and slowing down as Persico passed in front of her. It is not known if Persico made contact with her compatriot.

Persico told Cycling News at the start of stage 7 that she always tries to be respectful as a member of the peloton and was upset by the backlash on social media. She added that after watching the sprint video, her first reaction was to apologize to Confalonieri.

"I started crossing the street because nobody was there," she said. But really no one was watching, so after the race yesterday I watched the video and immediately wrote a letter to Maria Giulia."

The relegation to 39th place was the worst stage result of the Tour de France Fam for the 25-year-old, who finished seventh overall at the Giro d'Italia Donnay. After finishing 14th on the Champs-Elysées, Persico moved up to second place in the next stage to Provins, then fourth in stage 3 and seventh in the next two days of racing.

These results moved her into second place overall from stage 2, but a bonus second on stage 6 by Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) pushed Persico back into third place.

The overall battle entered a mountainous battle on stages 7 and 8, with three Category 1 climbs awaiting on Saturday's queen stage: the Petit Ballon, the Col du Platzelwasel, and the Grand Ballon.

Persico's team is hoping the Italian can hold on to a top-10 finish in the mountain stages, but the Italian has set his sights high. Persico said, "I'm not going to let them down.