UCI refers Dries De Bondt to Ethics Commission after Belgian admitted trying to help Richard Carapaz win Giro d'Italia

Dries De Bondt may have well and truly dropped himself into it with the UCI. After admitting to helping a rider from a rival team at the 2025 Giro d'Italia, the former Belgian national champion has now referred to an Ethics Commission by the sport's governing body.

For a few fleeting minutes, as Simon Yates rode away towards the Giro win on the Finestre and rivals Isaac Del Toro and Richard Carapaz hesitated, De Bondt inserted himself into the defining moment of the race by attempting to pull the Maglia Rosa and the former Olympic champion back up to Yates. Speaking afterwards to Wielerflits, De Bondt explained his actions.

"I still haven't received any clarity from my team whether I will be allowed to stay in 2026. So it seemed like a good idea to market myself during the Giro," he admitted. "I did the same with Ken Vanmarcke (EF’s team manager) 'If you're still looking for riders for 2026: I'm on the market', I told him. He said: 'Are you planning anything today? It's going to be very difficult for us to send riders into the early breakaway. But look: if you're in there and you can play a role somewhere that's important in the final result of the Giro, then something serious can come from that.' That inspired me to do what I did for Carapaz.”

Ultimately of course, De Bondt's efforts were in vain as Yates secured the Maglia Rosa in style. Following his admission in the press however, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team rider could be facing some more serious repercussions.

"Following a preliminary investigation into comments made at the end of the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia (31 May) by the Belgian Dries De Bondt, rider for UCI WorldTeam Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has deemed that they were clearly of a nature to call into question the integrity of the competition," announces the UCI in an official statement.

"According to his comments, reported by several media, Dries De Bondt deliberately helped a rider from the EF Education-Easy Post team following a suggestion from one of that team's Sport Directors that this could help the rider secure a contract offer for next season," the UCI continue. "On this basis, the UCI has decided to refer the matter to its Ethics Commission for a ruling on the facts and to consider possible sanctions against the rider and/or the Sport Director if their behaviour is found to be in breach of the UCI Code of Ethics, in particular Articles 8.1 and 2 of Annex 2."