The Giro organization has disqualified Dutch champion Lorena Wiebes due to a violation of the regulations for her bicycle. Wiebes has not only been removed from the results of the stage, in which she finished first, but has also lost her pink leader’s jersey and been expelled from the Giro. This means that her SD Worx – Protime team will start with one rider less on Sunday in the second stage.
The victory in the first stage and the first leader’s jersey have now been awarded to the Italian Elisa Balsamo. The Lidl-Trek rider had finished second in the bunch sprint in Ravenna.
The team says it is baffled by the decision of the UCI cycling union jury that Wiebes’ bicycle did not meet the minimum weight limit. According to the jury, the bicycle weighed 6.78 kilograms and therefore did not meet the lower limit of 6.8 kilograms set by the UCI. The team also believes that Wiebes’ disqualification is an extremely severe sanction.
The team questions the measurement controls in the Giro d’Italia Women. According to the team, there was a weight difference of more than 50 grams between the first and second weighing of the bicycle after the ride in Ravenna.
Wiebes has ridden this bike several times during this season, which has always been assembled in the same way, the team says. And the bicycle was weighed by the UCI jury after several competitions. It always turned out that the weight of the bicycle was well above the limit of 6.8 kilograms. The team says it does not understand how it is possible that the same bicycle is now under the weight limit.
