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 like Sunday’s stage) was back in 2009, when riders also complained about the road surface.

That wasn’t the only drama after the stage. A four-man breakaway somehow made it to the finish and what followed was a whole bunch of accusations about race motorbikes perhaps helping the escape stay clear.

Lidl-Trek’s Max Walscheid said that, “We went full gas all day. It’s not possible to stay away.”

Race motos shouldn’t play a role in Tuesday’s stage. Stage 16 from Bellinzona to Carì may be short (113 km) but the summit finish is 12 km long with an average gradient of 8 per cent, with multiple pitches much steeper.