Barbara Marcotti (Human Powered Health) was disqualified for "irregular assisting" on stage 5 of the Tour de France after she switched bikes in front of the peloton instead of behind.

"It was a tough call," said team director and former pro rider Andrew Bajadari of the quick and decisive decision by the race officials.

"In my opinion, the commissaires' decision was very harsh, they could have fined me between 500 and 1000 francs or given me a stern warning. There were still 80 to 90 kilometers to go in the stage. It was still 80-90km to go in the stage, and there was absolutely no benefit for Barbara to have been DQ'd. "It was difficult for us, and from a technical point of view, it would have been very difficult. It was difficult for us, and technically we were wrong, but it was a tough call under the circumstances."

Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femme took place on the road between Bar-le-Duc and Saint-Dier-des-Vosges, and at 175.6 km was the longest stage of the competition. A four-man breakaway group formed, including Marcotti's teammates Antri Christoforou, Victoire Berteau (Cofidis), Emily Newsome (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB), and Anya Roux (AG Insurance-NXTG), who was 4 minutes from the pack. During the stage 5 breakaway, Bajadali explained that Barbara Marcotti radioed the team that the shifter was not working properly and that they needed to change bikes. At that time, the only team car was servicing Christoforou's feed in the breakaway group and decided it was best to stop and give the bike to Marcotti as the peloton passed. 'We were servicing Antri in the breakaway group. Barbara grabbed the mic and said we needed a bike change. Barbara said the shifter was broken and we needed to change bikes. We had to feed the rest of the group anyway, and we pulled over and (the mechanics) took her bike off (the roof). Basically, the technical aspect (of the rule) was that Barbara needed to be at the back of the pack. She did it from the pack. We were obviously on the side of the road. We gave her the bike swap. She got on the bike at the back of the pack. The technical aspect is that she did it from the front of the bunch, not from the back of the bunch. The specific UCI rule is 2.3.030: Whatever your position in the race, you can only receive assists and mechanical checks (e.g. brakes) when you are stationary at the back of the bunch. Lubricating the chain from a running vehicle is prohibited. In the event of a fall, the enforcement of this disposition is at the discretion of the commissaire.

Bajadali said that he tried to talk to officials to have this punishment rescinded, but that it was difficult to have a rational discussion on the roadside and the decision was swift. 'We have pleaded, but there is only so much we can do,' he said. 'It's up to the discretion of the commissaire. I don't know if he ate something bad or what, but that's what happened. Barbara is devastated and I feel terrible. I can't sleep tonight because of this poor girl. She has good legs and then the mountains come and this is what she does best and she can't do what she came here to do. ...... Sad for everyone. We had a full team, we had a good race and today we had Antri in the breakaway group. I don't mean to abuse the commissaires, and I was respectful, but it's part of my job to stay calm and collected. I need to pick myself up and focus on what is happening right now. They strongly advised her to get out of the race." They called her and told her to stop on the side of the road. In any other situation, I would have let her keep running and hope they would change their minds. No way, that's crazy to me." Human Powered Health is one of 24 teams and 144 women competing in the revival of the Tour de France Femme, a highlight for all teams involved in this historic event. Marcotti had been expected to do well in the mountains, but just days before Sunday's summit finish at La Planche des Belles Fils, a technical problem brought her Tour de France to an abrupt end. She said, "It's bad for everyone involved. It's bad for the race, bad for us, bad for everyone. Why is she DQ'd? It's really strange. It's a strange decision. We have to move on. This will stay with me and I will never forget it. I think every DS, team and mechanic should know."