24 riders disqualified from under 23 Giro d’Italia for holding onto vehicles

24 riders have been disqualified from the under 23 Giro d’Italia after being filmed holding onto cars and other vehicles on wednesday’s stage four during the ascent of the Stelvio pass.  

Stage four, won by Johannes Staune-Mittet of the Jumbo-Visma development team, concluded with a summit finish on top of the famous mountain.

Although unfortunately for Staune-Mittet, the main talking point of the day was the 24 riders who brazenly held onto cars and motorbikes on the final climb, not the Norwegian who also took over both the maglia rosa and maglia azurra at the end of the day.

Video footage published by Italian outlet Tuttobiciweb clearly showed one car assisting eight riders on the ascent of the Stelvio, with two more holding onto a motorbike.

Riders from 15 of the 35 teams in the race were involved and the car seen allowing riders to hold onto it was the team car of Italian squad ASD GC Sissio. The team lost four riders from their squad through disqualification, leaving them with just a single rider still in the race. 

Two other Italian teams, Ciclista Rostese and Techniques #inEmiliaRomagna saw three riders each removed from the race.