Danny Stamm blamed the UCI's race jury for giving a 20-second time penalty to Demi Vollaring for a flat tire on stage 5 of the Tour de France.

Stamm, who was driving the SD Works team car that Vollaring had backed out of after drafting, was also fined 200 Swiss francs. At the Albi finish line, he filed an official protest in an attempt to overturn the race jury's decision to penalize Vollering, but without success, the decision was final.

"Yes, I was penalized and I filed an official protest, which they did not accept.

"This is totally ridiculous. If someone gets a flat tire, brings them back to the caravan, passes a couple of cars and goes sideways, it's ridiculous to get a 20-second penalty," Stamm said.

Stamm said he was concerned that the 20-second penalty could cost SD Walkes and Vollering their Tour de France femmes victory in Pau on Sunday.

"The UCI also knows they are always right, but they need to look in the mirror and think a little bit about what is happening in the race. I don't think this will make a difference at the end of the stage, but you could lose the Tour de France in five seconds," Stamm said.

"If it's a decision made by someone who sits in a machine and has probably never ridden a bike, I'm disappointed about this," Stamm said.

The race jury decided to penalize Vollering according to article 12.2.007/4.7, as stated in the communiqué for stage 5.

"The UCI said it would normally be tolerated, but not in the Tour de France," Stamm said.

Vollering suffered a rear wheel puncture with 65 km remaining to Albi. The team mechanic serviced it and jumped into the slipstream of the SD Works, which Stamm was driving.

As she reconnected behind the caravan, Stamm continued on the left side of the road, passing other team vehicles with Vollering behind the team car.

A race commissaire on a motorcycle whistled several times to get Vollering and Stamm to stop advancing. When the commissaires caught up to the team car, they pointed at Stamm and gestured that they would report him to the race review committee.

"We passed a couple of caravans and they thought it was too much. [The window was still closed and [the commissaire] didn't say much," Stamm said of the exchange between himself and the commissaire, suggesting that he should have been warned first but was not penalized.

"He said I needed to go behind the rider, but if you watch the TV, I did so directly. It is also strange that he did not take the warning, did not say that I needed to go behind the rider, and directly penalized me for 20 seconds.

"This is going too far and could have a huge impact on the Tour de France final. If such small decisions are made at the top level of the sport, we need to make sure we are doing things the right way."

Vollering, along with defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten, entered the Tour de France femme as the overwhelming favorite to win. She was eight seconds ahead of Van Vleuten on stage 4 in Lodès. However, a drafting penalty dropped her five places from second to seventh, and she is now 12 seconds behind Van Vleuten.

"It's a ridiculous penalty that is not fair in her eyes and in ours. If you look at the men's Tour de France, this kind of thing is an everyday occurrence. It could make or break the Tour de France.

"I hope the UCI looks in the mirror on Sunday and sees the right winner and that it was in fair shape.

The Tour de France femme continues on Friday with stage 6 from Albi to Blagnac, followed by the GC decider, stage 7, which climbs the Col d'Aspin and finishes on the summit of Tourmalet. The eight-day race will end with a time trial in Pau. Stamm does not believe that there is a sufficient time gap between Vollering and van Breuten in Tourmalet, and that this 20-second penalty could be a problem in the final stages of the race.

"In Tourmalet the gap can be big, but sometimes it is not that big. Again, if you lose the Tour de France by five seconds, I think everyone who makes a decision should look in the mirror," Stamm said.