Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) was fined for littering on stage 3 of the Tour de France in Denmark, and the yellow jersey will now carry a one-minute time penalty for a second offense.

Van Aert was fined CHF 500 for littering in an undesignated zone on the stage from Vail to Sousa Bois, where he finished second behind Dylan Groenewegen (Bike Exchange-Jayco).

While not a major financial issue, Van Aert earned several times this amount for his performance on stage 3 alone.

The penalties escalated with each repeated infraction, with the second infraction costing Van Aert CHF 1,000, but perhaps more significantly, a one-minute time penalty was imposed.

A third violation will result in disqualification from the race.

While Van Aert is not aiming for overall victory in this race, he currently holds the race leader's yellow jersey and hopes to replace team leader Primoš Roglic in the yellow jersey and take the maillot jaune.

Van Aert was not the only one punished for littering on stage 3, as Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Leonard Kemuna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mikel Honoré (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl), Sylvain Dirier ( Alpecin Phoenix) were also found guilty of the same offense. All riders were fined 500 Swiss francs and 25 UCI points.

Meanwhile, Quinn Simons (Trek-Segafredo) was penalized for riding off the official course on stage 3. In addition to a CHF 500 fine and 25 UCI points deduction, Simons was penalized 20 seconds in the overall classification, 40 points for points and 1 point for mountains. penalty for the overall classification, 40 points for the points award, and 1 point for the mountains award.