The UCI fined French rider Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) 200 Swiss francs for hugging his wife and celebrating with fans on his home course during stage 7 of the Tour de France.

Bernard enjoyed a "dreamy moment" on an uphill time trial course about 30 minutes from his home, with friends and family at every corner of the road, "Julien!" and cheered him on as he passed by with a sign that read "Allez JB."

"I was really looking forward to this day. I knew my wife and friends had done something for me on the climb," Bernard said.

"I started pretty fast on the TT and on this climb, as you can see, I wanted to enjoy every second with all my friends and family. It was a dream moment for me."

But the jubilation was too much for the governing body of cycling, and according to the jury's report, the Frenchman was disciplined after the stage for "unseemly or inappropriate behavior during the race and damage to the image of the sport."

This is the same rule under which Davide Ballerini was fined after stopping along the roadside to watch teammate Mark Cavendish's historic sprint to victory on stage 5.

A repetition of Bernard's initials lined the roadside, and he finished the race in 61st place on the day.

"I pushed the power at the start to have time to enjoy this climb, I run conservatively in the TT, but today I decided to push more at the start.

"In the end I knew I wasn't too far behind. So I was okay. It was a perfect day for me."

It was so perfect a day that Bernard was willing to do exactly the same, despite the UCI's assessment that he should be fined for such a heartwarming moment.

"I'm sorry, but what was it? And I'm sorry to UCI Cycling for damaging the sport's image. But I would pay 200 Swiss francs every day to relive this moment again."

Lidl-Trek teammate Tom Skuzins also reacted to the incident with similar confusion, posting a screenshot of the fine along with the words, "The UCI is being UCI-like."

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