Journalist responds sharply to Ciccone's 'incomprehensible' criticism of photo finish: 'White stays white and never turns black'

The difference was actually imperceptible to the naked eye. Nevertheless, Evenepoel was declared the winner based on the finish-line photo. Ciccone initially showed himself to be a gracious loser, but later posted on Instagram that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with the outcome.

“I’ve watched the available footage hundreds of times, and in the clips where the finish line is visible, I keep seeing a dynamic that I can’t reconcile with that result.”

And so he wanted certainty. “I want to see, without a doubt, our bikes crossing at the exact point where, according to the rules, the finish line is marked,” said Ciccone. “Because if a European title is decided by 2.8 thousandths of a second, then I think it’s justified to ask that the crossing of the line be shown with the same precision used to determine the result.”

It caused quite a stir. Many expressed their support for the unfortunate runner-up, but others disagreed. Among them was commentator and journalist Renaat Schotte, who responded with considerable venom to an Instagram post by WielerFlits. “It’s incomprehensible how you can have been a top-tier professional cyclist for so long and still not know how a photo finish works. The photo is the finish, Giulio.”

According to the Belgian journalist, there is no reason to question the photo finish.

“Unlike when working with the older analog cameras, the margin of error is practically zero in this digital age. This is also due to the protocol that operators must follow. At the European Championships, there were even two cameras that showed exactly the same result. In that case, white stays white and never turns black.”

At the 2019 Amstel Gold Race, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock battled for the win, and the Belgian was ultimately awarded the victory—a decision that sparked some controversy. But Schotte brings up a personal quote. “My late father, Ludo—a photo-finish operator—who was buried exactly one year ago this past Sunday, used to say: ‘The photo-finish is always right.’"

"I suspect, by the way, that he was sitting there on Sunday, enjoying the photo-finish spectacle.”

There have indeed been instances in the past where the margin was too small to determine a winner. In those cases, multiple winners were declared. “But, Giulio, 3 mm is 3 mm, and you still need to work on your cat leap a bit! Nevertheless, thanks for keeping it so exciting—it was great publicity for cycling and the finish-line photo,” Schotte concludes.

“Mille Grazie, Giulio and Remco!”