How is Lorena Wiebes after Giro d'Italia Women DQ and where is she now? SD Worx-Protime team boss explains

What a soap opera: Lorena Wiebes won the first stage of the Giro d’Italia Women on Saturday, but was taken out of the race afterwards because her bike was said to be too light. Her team SD Worx-Protime will challenge that decision, but they have also chosen to cut their losses in part and send Wiebes straight home.

The team issued a statement immediately after the disqualification. “SD Worx – Protime is astonished by the decision of the UCI jury panel that Lorena Wiebes’ bike did not meet the minimum weight limit after the first stage of the Giro d’Italia Women, in accordance with UCI article 2.12.007–2.2.

“According to the jury, the bike weighed 6.78 kilograms and therefore did not meet the UCI minimum weight requirement of 6.8 kilograms. The team has serious questions about the procedures for weighing the bikes during the Giro d’Italia Women,” the team said, describing the sanction as “extraordinarily severe”.

The next day, team manager Danny Stam returned to the matter in an interview with NOS, where he also explained how Wiebes herself — whom we had not yet heard from — was doing. “Lorena is already home. She is, of course, deeply disappointed. We came here with a goal to win three or four stages. Which, I think, was realistic too.”

“If you are then thrown out of the Giro in that way, it is very painful. We chose to bring her back to the Netherlands as quickly as possible,” Stam said. Team manager André Boskamp said much the same. “It is bizarre, this can actually not be true. They found that the bike was a little too light, but is that second scale correct? Lorena had really been living towards this. It is a huge blow, for the whole team as well.”

Team boss Erwin Janssen has already announced legal action. “It will probably be difficult, but we cannot just let this pass. It is ridiculous that Lorena has been thrown out. This causes us so much damage,” he told NOS. “We were going for three or four wins. It is sad. These are the bikes we always ride on. And we have never had anything like this before.”

“We will do everything we can, including legally. But they are unyielding. It will be their no against our yes. They will receive a letter. We will hold them liable for the damage suffered,” Janssen said.

Without Wiebes, stage two of the Giro d’Italia went to Elisa Balsamo, who had finished second behind Wiebes on stage one and therefore wore the pink jersey too. “Winning in the Maglia Rosa is a dream come true. I have to thank my teammates, because they were fantastic,” she said afterwards.

“Especially Lucinda Brand, who is always very reliable in the finale and brought me into the perfect position at exactly the right moment, was very important. I think I rode a very good sprint and it was nice to be able to take advantage of this chance,” Balsamo said.