The UCI will use the Vuelta a Espana as a guinea pig for the infamous yellow cards

Obviously they were not going to do it at the Tour de France, where everything is magnified, and the UCI has decided that the controversial yellow card system to sanction cyclists will be put in the big test at the Vuelta a Espana 2024 instead.

We did not have the risk of seeing Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogacar disqualified in the recent Grande Boucle, but we could see some of the favorites for the Spanish Grand Tour. The race is usually overlooked by the UCI but this time, it'll be under the magnifying glass. Hopefully not for all the wrong reasons.

The UCI determined that the system would come into force on August 1 until December 31, 2024 and, depending on the results, it will be definitively implemented or not for the 2025 season onwards.

These cards will not be in the manner of soccer or athletics. There will not be a referee or a judge showing the physical cards to the cyclists, but they will be given by means of a communiqué after each stage.

The commissaires may issue yellow cards for any type of action that they determine may pose a risk to the safety of the cyclists or any other member of the race.

As explained by the Marca, there will be 4 assumptions for sanctioning cyclists:

• If a competitor receives two yellow cards during the same race, he will be disqualified from that race and a 7-day suspension will be imposed, starting from the day following the second yellow card.

• In case a competitor accumulates three yellow cards in a period of 30 days, he/she will be suspended for 14 days, starting the day after receiving the third yellow card.

• If a competitor receives 6 yellow cards in the course of a year, he/she will be suspended for 30 days, starting the day after receiving the sixth yellow card.

• A yellow card that has been used to impose a suspension will not be considered in future suspension decisions.