Comments from Eurosport
“‘Never seen people this broken’ – Rider speaks out after strike threat An anonymous cyclist told Eurosport that the 2020 Giro d’Italia has been the hardest Grand Tour he’s known after riders forced a late change to the Stage 19 route. The unnamed cyclist explains why the peloton protested against the 251km profile of the stage, and says that many of the riders are “broken”.
He was speaking after the news broke that Stage 19 had been shortened from an enormous 251km to 133km after a protest from the riders, with the start moved to Abiategrasso near Milan.
The race still went through the usual pre-stage formalities in the host town of Morbegno and lined up at the start on Friday morning. But then the riders transferred to the team buses and made the journey to the new designated stage start.
Reporting from the stage, Eurosport’s Bernie Eisel said that it was the right decision to move the start of the stage, but added that it could have been handled better.
“Team buses are racing to pick up the riders and get to the real start around Como,” Eisel said.
“Right call by the riders, but again, it should have been discussed and decided last night. Big mess here right now.
“Riders suitcases are at the next hotel and now they have to get changed, dry their clothes a little and restart after the transfer in the bus. Not ideal.
“I know you want to see some racing, but since the last rest day, the riders had super hard and extremely long stages and transfers over three hours a day.”
Comments from Cycling Weekly
“Mauro Vegni has threatened to get lawyers involved if evidence isn’t produced showing riders originally raised their concerns yesterday evening.
Giro d’Italia race director Mauro Vegni has vowed that “someone will pay” after the peloton went on strike and refused to ride the opening 130km of stage 18.
This refusal was due to the length of the planned 258km in dreary conditions, coming after a tough week of mountainous racing in cold weather and before a tough final test up the Sestriere tomorrow.
“I’m very upset about the way this has happened. It isn’t the right way to resolve the issues that we face today,” Vegni told Eurosport.
The race director says he didn’t receive any request yesterday for the stage to be shortened, contradicting Adam Hansen’s account that the proposal had been brought to RCS Sport after the finish of stage 18.
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‘We Weren’t Consulted About Strike, Riders Were Happy To Race’: Rod Ellingworth
Bahrain-Mclaren Boss Rod Ellingworth Told Eurosport That The First His Team Knew About A Strike Threat At The Giro D’italia Was In The Neutralised Zone Ahead Of Stage 19. The Race Was Shortened At Late Notice Was Riders Refused To Start The Lengthy 251Km Stage On Friday 23 October.
