'An exceptionally severe sanction' – Lorena Wiebes's team 'astonished' after sprinter kicked off Giro d'Italia Women for underweight bike
SD Worx-Protime rider initially declared stage winner, only to be expelled from the race
SD Worx-Protime have said they are “astonished” that their sprinter, Lorena Wiebes, was found to have been riding an underweight bike on stage one of the Giro d’Italia Women, and disqualified from the race.
The race jury ruled that Wiebes competed on a bike “non-conforming to minimum weight requirements” on Saturday's stage. According to SD Worx-Protime, her bike was said to have weighed 6.78kg – 0.02kg under the UCI’s minimum weight requirement of 6.8kg.
The Dutchwoman initially won the bunch sprint into Ravenna, but was expelled from the race hours later, with the jury giving the victory, and the first pink jersey, to Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo, who crossed the line second.
Later on Saturday evening, SD Worx-Protime released a statement raising “serious questions” of the UCI’s bike-weighing procedure.
“Team SD Worx-Protime is astonished by the decision of the UCI commissaires' panel that Lorena Wiebes' bicycle did not comply with the minimum weight limit after the first stage of the Giro d'Italia Women,” the team said.
“Wiebes has ridden this bicycle on multiple occasions this season, always with the same setup. She achieved numerous victories on this bike. Moreover, earlier this year, the bicycle was weighed by UCI officials after several races in which Wiebes won sprint finishes convincingly.
“On each occasion, the bicycle's weight was found to be comfortably above the 6.8-kilogram limit. The team therefore does not understand how the very same bicycle could now suddenly be measured below the minimum weight requirement.”
SD Worx-Protime went on to say that Wiebes’s disqualification was an “exceptionally severe sanction”.
“In a flat sprint stage, unlike a mountain stage, a small reduction in weight provides virtually no advantage. This is certainly true for a rider like Wiebes, who won the sprint in Ravenna by three bicycle lengths,” the team said.
“Team SD Worx-Protime, a leading team in the women's peloton for the past fifteen years, has no explanation for why Wiebes' bicycle was found to be under the minimum weight on this occasion.”
Wiebes was disqualified under UCI article 2.12.007, rule 2.2, which refers to “use of a bicycle that does not comply with regulations”. UCI rule 1.3.019 stipulates the weight of a bicycle cannot be less than 6.8kg.
As a result of the ruling, the Giro d'Italia Women organiser, RCS, declared Balsamo the stage winner.
“Of course, it is not the way I want to win," Balsamo said, "but this is a decision of the jury. In any case, it’s an honour to wear the maglia rosa and I am looking forward to trying to defend it in tomorrow’s stage."
