UCI Hits Eritrea with Hefty Fines for Racing Worlds in Non-Matching Kits

The UCI hit two Eritrean riders and the team’s director with hefty fines on Sunday after the elite men’s world championship road race.

Their transgression? Not littering, riding in a dangerous manner, or resting their arms on their handlebars in an illegal position as Demi Vollering was fined for the day before. No, they wore the wrong clothes.

Biniam Girmay and Henok Mulueberhan were both fined 500 CHF (~$600 USD) for violating UCI Article 2.12.007.3.9: having “different clothing for the different riders of a team.”

The team’s director Samsom Ghebreyesus was fined 1000 CHF (~$1,200 USD) for the same offense. It’s unclear why he received a larger fine and if he was being fined for allowing riders to take the start line in different kit or for also wearing incorrect national team clothing.

The third Eritrea national team member to take the start line, Merhawi Kudus, was not fined for his team kit.

In total that’s $2,400 in fines across the squad for wearing incorrect team kit, likely more than the cost of buying three new matching custom kits for the whole team.

All three members of the team took to the start line in slightly different looking team kits, with Kudus and Mulueberhan wearing what appears to be the same jersey but different bib shorts, and Girmay wearing a different jersey and different bibs altogether from his two teammates.

Although Kudus was not fined, he did not appear to be wearing national team bib shorts, instead wearing the black ones supplied by his trade team.

None of the three riders finished the race, a particularly difficult, attritional worlds course that saw Brandon McNulty become the first American elite winner in 33 years.