Cyclist Fined For 'Damaging Image Of The Sport' After Stopping To Dish Out A Smooch To His Wife

It appears that loving your family is against the rules during the Tour de France as one cyclist learned after he was fined for stopping to give his wife and son kisses.

It happened to Frenchman Julien Bernard who rides for Lidl-Trek during the seventh stage of this year's race. That stage was a time trial that wrapped up in Gevrey-Chambertin.

Well, what do you know? According to Cycling Weekly, that's just 20 minutes from where Bernard lives.

He passed through a crowd of well-wishers and when he saw his wife — who was holding their young son — he stopped to kiss her.

That's a nice moment, right?

Wrong!

That's a 200CHF (about $223) fine, pal! There's no kissing during the Tour de France, not even the French kind.

It took me a second to figure out what the problem was. I wasn't sure if it had to do with him unclipping from his pedals or something. 

Nope. They said it was for "unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport."

French cyclist Julien Bernard had to pay out a couple hundred dollars to cover a fine for kissing his wife during Stage 7 of the Tour de France. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Loving your wife and son damages the image of cycling. I think decades of doping did that.

I don't see the problem at all. That's a good look for cycling, if anything. It's also not like he gained an advantage. It was a time trial, I don't think stopping is advantageous when the objective is to traverse the stage as fast as possible.

Also, these dudes are spending tons of time away from home, pedaling up mountains, and sitting on their genitals for hours on end. Can't they just hug their family for like a second?

I don't think that's too much to ask, is it?

Well, it doesn't matter what we think, because Bernard's wallet is a bit lighter. However, he swears he'd do it again if given the chance.

"Sorry UCI for having damaged the image of the sport," Bernard wrote. "But I am willing to pay 200CHF every day and relive this moment." 

C'mon, cycling. Let's cut this dude some slack.