Riders delay start of Giro di Lombardia in five‑minute safety protest
Riders at the Giro di Lombardia staged a brief protest at the start on Saturday, delaying the race by five minutes to draw attention to safety concerns involving vehicles on race courses. After the countdown for the start finished the peloton remained stationary until Remco Evenepoel addressed the crowd.
Evenepoel, Belgium’s double Olympic champion, spoke to those gathered about recent incidents involving vehicles and riders. “There’s too many incidents happening with vehicles in the race,” he said. “Unfortunately we lost the life of a brother and of a colleague of us, so we want to make this statement to show to the world that we cannot keep accepting the fact that guys are getting injured or literally dying in what we like the most to do.”
The death Evenepoel referenced was that of British cyclist Finlay Tarling, the younger brother of Netcompany Ineos rider Josh Tarling, who died after a collision with a vehicle during the Tour of Portugal on 14 August. The protest also followed an incident earlier in the week in which Thomas Gloag and Marcel Camprubi were struck by a police motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction during the Tre Valli Varesine.
A statement from the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) reiterated the riders’ concerns and catalogued recent incidents. “This week alone, there were multiple incidents of vehicles on race courses,” the CPA said. “This summer, a life was tragically lost to exactly this kind of failure. We will not stand for this any longer.”
The CPA emphasised riders’ reliance on organisers and the governing body for safe courses and called for action. “Riders race at high speed with little protection, and we depend on [cycling’s governing body] the UCI and race organisers to secure the roads. That responsibility is not being met,” the union said, and it called on the UCI to help ensure race organisers "take responsibility" and "act" to improve safety standards.
The peloton paused only briefly and then began the race as scheduled. “We did not want to affect the race, only to show what riders can do when we stand as one,” the riders’ statement added. “We love this sport. We respect the race organisers. We want to race hard and put on a show for our fans. However most importantly we want to come home safe to our loved ones.”
After the five‑minute stoppage the riders set off as scheduled for the race to Como.
