French rider Julien Bernard was fined on Saturday for stopping to kiss his wife during the Tour de France.

The penalty from the International Cycling Union (UCI) amounts to 200 Swiss francs (€205, $222).

What was Julien Bernard fined for?

Fifteen minutes into the time trial seventh stage of the Tour de France on Friday, Bernard stopped to kiss his wife and young son amid a group of family and friends.

The leg of the race was in the rider's home region of Burgundy in eastern France.

The UCI said that the behavior was inappropriate and damaged the sport's image.

In a TV interview, Bernard said the moment was "incredible."

"It was really incredible. My wife has been organising this with some friends for a few weeks now and she did a really, really good job," he said.

"On a time trial, you have time to enjoy yourself. It's these moments that keep me going and cycling."

Bernard also defended the encounter with his wife and son on the platform X, formerly Twitter.

"I'm sorry UCI for damaging the image of the sport," Bernard said. "But I'm willing to pay 200 Swiss francs every day and experience this moment again."

In response to Bernard's X post, Danish cyclist Magnus Cort shared a video of him stopping to kiss his wife during the Tour de France with the caption: "What a joke. I guess I was lucky when they missed me a couple of days ago."

Bernard took 61st place out of 174 riders.

sdi/rc (Reuters, SID)