Irish riders fined by UCI for selfies, but Froome gets away with it

When it comes to the UCI enforcing the rules of racing, there's one rule for the rich and famous riders and another rule for Irish amateurs.

Back in May some of the Irish club riders – or ‘county men’ as they have become known – were penalised for using their mobile phones during the An Post Rás.

The riders, who were from Waterford, snapped a few very quick selfies on a climb. But they only did so when they were not near any other riders.

The shots taken were simply light-hearted souvenirs captured after they had sat up on the final climb of the day as they opted out of a lumpy final to keep their powder dry for the following stage.

But the UCI commissaire on the race didn’t see it that way and fined three riders when the selfies they took riding stage 4 up Connor Pass were posted on social media.

The selfie that cost Ciarán Power €90 at the An Post Rás. He was one of three riders sanctioned for the offence back in May.

Fast forward two months and the leader of the biggest race in the world is seen using his mobile phone in the peloton and later posts a selfies on Twitter and there is no sanction from the UCI this time.

Chris Froome was seen using his mobile on Sunday’s final stage of the Tour de France while the race headed to Paris, where he was crowned winner for the third time.

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A photo was taken of Froome using his phone, with the shot later shared on Twitter by Katusha head of communications Philippe Maertens.

Do I see here a breach of #TDF2016 rules (article 9)? pic.twitter.com/v2be7HP6gf

— Philippe Maertens (@philmaertens) July 25, 2016

He questioned whether a rider using a phone was in breach of article 9 of race rules.

It states the riders must not use mobile phones during the race “except in cases where competitors have set up special pre-fitted links with their sports directors according to conditions defined in article 2.2 024 of the Rules of the UCI”.

Aside from Froome breaching that rule, the posting of a selfie on his Twitter account puts his use of the phone in exactly the same bracket as the Irish Rás riders.

Don’t get us wrong, we have no problem with Froome taking a quick selfie. But surely the rules should be applied equally by the UCI?