Although I feel a little douchey saying it, yes cheating (not even gonna talk about entering the chute and collecting swag,that's a no brainer). He shouldn't be on the course taking up space and "racing" others having missed the first cutoff.

Although in the moment I'd probably say "meh, go ahead and get a long training day out of it." As long as he stays out of my way.

But if you are doing something that will get you a DQ, it's cheating.