You may have noticed a bit of drama in Milan on Sunday. Well, apart from a crash after the whole headbutt thing–that took down Team Jayco AlUla’s Robert Donaldson, as well as Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que.’s Nick Zukowsky. The riders had safety concerns about the finishing circuits in the Italian city, and the organizers are not too fond of how it was all handled.
The fallout from Sunday’s Giro d’Italia stage into Milan continued on Monday, with race organizer Paolo Bellino publicly criticizing the riders’ complaints about safety on the city laps.
Rider safety concerns
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the RCS Sport CEO said the peloton’s reaction, led in part by race leader Jonas Vingegaard, crossed a line after officials decided to stop the general classification times before the final lap of the stage. The Dane was seen talking to the race jury. At one point in mid-conversation as he held on to the side of the car, he even hit a pothole and said, “Look, I almost crashed.”
Nick Zukowsky after Giro crash on Sunday: ‘Feels like I got hit by a truck’
“I think the riders went too far with what was said,” Bellino told the Italian outlet. He defended the Milan circuit, calling it “beautiful, very well designed and not dangerous,” while insisting organizers had carefully inspected the route beforehand.
Sketchy roads in Milan
The decision to neutralize GC times came after several riders raised concerns about road furniture, uneven pavement and manhole covers on the urban finishing circuit. Originally, times were frozen with 15.9 km remaining, effectively removing the overall contenders from the fight before the finale.
Vingegaard later explained that discussions inside the bunch had become impossible to ignore.
“We riders all thought that this might not have been the safest course to race on,” the Dane said afterward, noting there were “many holes in the road and all kinds of elevations and manhole covers.”
The Visma-Lease a Bike leader added that riders approached race officials directly and appreciated that the jury “really listened to us” before making the call.
Still, Bellino maintained the Giro had already offered compromises, saying organizers were prepared to stop the clock at five km from the finish if necessary, but not nearly 16 km out.
History repeats
Interestingly, the last time the Giro used a finishing circuit in Milan (the city has hosted finishes and time trials since, but not repeated laps…
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