After Julien Alaphilippe was sanctioned for taking off his helmet on Tirreno-Adriatico, Sourdal-Quick Step boss Patrick Leferet complained of a "rain of fines" and joked that the UCI was "short of cash."

Alaphilippe, a two-time world champion, changed clothes on stage 4 of the Italian stage race and took off his helmet to remove his base layer with 80 km to go.

Alaphilippe was fined 500 Swiss francs, and the Quick-Step boss was outraged in a weekend column in the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab).

"The wind is blowing in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, and if you notice, it's also raining. This year the fines from the UCI are out of the blue," Lefebvre wrote.

"How long did it take (for Alaphilippe to change his clothes)? Five minutes at the most, at a rate of CHF 100 per minute."

According to UCI regulations, a rider who removes his helmet during a race is subject to a "CHF 200 fine and dropout or disqualification." Instead, he was apparently punished under the section of the regulations covering "damage to the image of cycling."

In any case, Lefebvre was not satisfied and on Thursday criticized the UCI for the safety situation in Paris-Nice.

"I'm not going to say that the UCI should applaud when riders take off their helmets - safety should not be minimized - but if suddenly there are bollards standing along the road in the last kilometer of Paris-Nice, will the Federation also fine them? There was no such statement in the official communiqué."

Lefebvre noted the increase in fines for infractions that may have gone unnoticed in the past, suggesting that the governing body was "short of cash."

He noted that James Knox was disqualified for drafting after a recent fall at the Tour Down Under, even though he was required to undergo concussion testing, and that Alaphilippe was disqualified at the 2020 Tour de France for drinking from a designated feeding zone in the He brought up the example of Alaphilippe losing the yellow jersey for drinking a bottle slightly beyond the designated feeding zone.

"The problem of VAR in soccer also exists for me in the judging car. Too few people with practical experience can correctly assess the racing situation," Lefebvre wrote.

"What is fault recovery and what is forgery? Former riders have a better sense of this than those with no racing experience. To put it mildly, when I see someone hanging on the back of a car with sticking brakes (which is the oldest trick in the book), I know immediately if there is a real problem or if someone wants to go 60 km/h instead of 40 km/h.

"Advice for retired riders who want to "keep doing something in racing": follow the UCI Commissaire's course."