Specialized slams UCI over Wiebes disqualification and calls weight rule discriminatory

Lorena Wiebes’ disqualification in the women’s Giro d’Italia is still causing waves in the peloton. Rightly or wrongly, it has stirred up plenty of discussion and divided opinion. The same is true at bike supplier Specialized, which provides the bikes for SD Worx-Protime. The founder of the bike brand has now also entered the debate and firmly backs the Dutch champion.

Speaking to Lennard Zinn, Mike Sinyard, chairman of Specialized and founder of the brand, made no secret of his opinion. “Don’t get me started on the UCI’s technical rules and how they are enforced,” the American begins. “The short answer is that I think it’s complete bullsh*t what they did to her.”

Sinyard believes the disqualification was nonsense, especially because he thinks it would not have happened to other riders. “The disqualification is very arbitrary. Can you imagine if it had been Mark Cavendish, Remco Evenepoel, Peter Sagan or one of the other men’s stars? There would be no chance they would have been thrown out of the race entirely.”

According to the American, the punishment does not fit the offence. “I understand that there is a rule in the book that has to be enforced, even if it is a stupid, arbitrary and discriminatory rule like this one. But the punishment has to fit the offence. There have been so many times when a rider deviated from their line, used a head-butt or whatever. Only with Sagan did it result in a disqualification in the Tour, but normally not.”

What is more, Wiebes was by far the strongest rider in the sprint on stage one, where she won by five bike lengths. “That cannot be put down to a bike that is 20 grams lighter. Responsibility for the bike’s weight lies with the team and the technical staff, not the rider, who has now paid the biggest price. Everything she did was perfect racing.”

Sinyard also put a commercial angle on the UCI’s decision. “How can this sport, which already struggles to find sponsors to support teams, expect to keep sponsors if someone like Wiebes is thrown out of the race for a bike that was found to be 20 grams too light? Especially if there is a big difference between the measurements.”

Wiebes was disqualified for a bike weighing 6.78 kilos, 0.02 kilos below the permitted minimum. But Sinyard considers that limit complete nonsense. He sees the rule as outdated, especially because of the differences in riders’ body sizes, particularly when comparing men and women.

“The UCI’s rules on bike weight are discriminatory for smaller riders, both men and women. Petra Stiasny won the final stage of the Vuelta Femenina atop the Angliru, and she weighs 43 kilos. Her bike, at 6.8 kilos, is 16 per cent of her body weight. In effect, that is double what someone like Filippo Ganna or Jonathan Milan has to push uphill.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]