Van Vleuten questions SD Worx’s gamble on Wiebes’ bike after Giro d'Italia Women disqualification

It has become the story of the Giro d'Italia Women: Lorena Wiebes was removed from the race after her bike was found to be too light. It caused surprise and plenty of uproar, but the jury did not reverse its decision. Fair? Annemiek van Vleuten gave her view on it at the NOS.

Twenty grams: that is how much the difference supposedly was. The Dutch sprinter’s bike was weighed and came out at 6.78 kilograms, while 6.8 kilograms is the minimum allowed weight. It is a tiny margin, but Van Vleuten knows exactly what it is like to be that close to the limit.

“In 2019 my bike was also at 6.8 kilos,” the former rider recalled. The solution then? “My team (Mitchelton-Scott, ed.) chose to put a 20-gram block of lead in the bike to build in a safety margin. It felt strange, but anything was better than being disqualified.”

That is exactly what happened to Wiebes, even though Van Vleuten also knows very well that there is very little to gain from a bike that is 20 grams lighter. “Twenty grams... you do not lie awake over that as a rider. Certainly not in a flat stage. She had no advantage from it at all. That makes it extra bitter.”

She therefore does not understand why SD Worx-Protime took that risk. “The UCI does not give you any margin when weighing, so you are better off not sitting on the limit yourself.” In a statement, the team said that the same bike had never previously been found too light, but Van Vleuten finds that remarkable. “They are checked regularly.”

Still, this story has two sides for Van Vleuten. Removing Wiebes from the Giro? “That they took away her stage win, I understand. But that she has to leave the Giro is a disproportionately heavy punishment,” the Dutchwoman judged.

Wiebes herself also spoke for the first time on Monday evening after her exclusion from the Giro, via Instagram. With a photo series from the month of May, she added “the show must go on” as a fitting caption. And that is exactly right.