Once again, the Tour de France Femmes is faced with a disruption. The jury made the decision to disqualify team leader Servais Knaven and cyclist Lotta Henttala, both from the team AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick Step. This was because Henttala clung onto the car handle for an extended duration, resulting in both her and Knaven being strictly expelled from the race. Henttala had already faced challenges on Thursday, finishing the race past the time limit. Nonetheless, she was granted leniency afterwards as her group were held up behind a train crossing. The race jury counted the time the group was stopped and added it to their race time. The group scraped in by just 17 seconds.
However, the next day during the sixth stage, the Finnish competitor faced more issues. Alone this time, she endured a lengthy struggle. The leadership of AG Insurance-Soudal-Quick Step attempted to reintegrate Henttala into the race by allowing her to hang onto their car. The GPS tracking had shown the Finn was minutes off the back of the peloton before suddenly appearing in the peloton at a key moment of the race before dropping back again.
Previously in the Tour de France Femmes, Danny Stam, the team leader for SD Worx, was also sent away from the race after he performed a risky action during the fifth stage. As a result, Stam was excluded from the event and his team member, Demi Vollering, was handed a 20-second penalty.
