Kaden Groves receives yellow card after celebrating for teammate Philipsen's win

On paper, it is true that it poses a slight safety risk in the peloton, however one of the most controversial UCI rules implemented recently was the penalization of teammates who celebrate a teammate victory in a bunch sprint - if they endanger the peloton's safety. It would be hard to determine where that rule could be used, but it had it's debut yesterday as Kaden Groves received a yellow card after launching Jasper Philipsen to victory at Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne.

Alpecin-Deceuninck rode a brilliant race on Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to split the peloton at a key time and assure that a bunch sprint would decide the race. There, Jasper Philipsen took second place behind Soren Waerenskjold. But on Sunday's second race of the 'Opening Weekend' Alpecin nailed it, having a perfect leadout for it's main sprinter and obtaining their first win of the season, whilst the likes of Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier couldn't position themselves to be in contention for the victory.

Kaden Groves, an established sprinter himself, came in the role of leadout man to the Belgian race and did it to perfection, launching Philipsen for a rather comfortable win against his rivals, and still holding his own for 10th place at the finish line. Understandably, he celebrated his team's success over the line, of which he was a part of. Quickly on social media comments began, hinting that a penalization could be on it's way.

Sure enough this was what happened as the race report confirmed the relegation of Groves' 10th spot at the finish, receiving a Yellow Card, and still a 500CHF fine. Indirectly, he also lost the 35 UCI points that he earned from his result. The Australian will return to competition at Milano-Sanremo, and will follow that up with the Volta a Catalunya and the cobbled classics.