Lorena Wiebes was disqualified from the women’s Giro d’Italia for a bike weight violation, just hours after winning the opening stage.
The Dutchwoman, riding for Team SD Worx-Protime, had sealed the first maglia rosa – the leader’s pink jersey – of this year’s race by pipping Italian Elisa Balsamo and Irish rider Lara Gillespie to the finish line in Ravenna.
But in a statement on Saturday night, race organisers said 27-year-old Wiebes, who won the Giro points classification in 2025, had been kicked out of the race for “use of a bicycle not in compliance with the regulations, specifically failing to meet the minimum weight requirements”.
Lidl-Trek’s Balsamo was awarded the stage win and will start Sunday’s second stage in the maglia rosa.
Team SD Worx-Protime said it was “stunned” by the “exceptionally harsh penalty” imposed on Wiebes.
According to the jury, the bike weighed 6.78kg, just below the UCI’s established lower limit of 6.8kg.
“The team has serious doubts about the bike weight checks during the Giro d’Italia Women,” Team SD Worx-Protime said in a statement.
“For instance, there was a weight difference of more than 50g between the first and second weighing of Wiebes’ bike after the stage finish in Ravenna.
“Wiebes has raced on this bike multiple times throughout this season, and it has always been assembled in the same manner. With this bike, she has secured numerous victories.
“Moreover, earlier this year, after several races that Wiebes won by a significant margin in the sprint, the bike was weighed by the UCI jury.
“On each occasion, the bike’s weight was found to be well above the 6.8kg threshold. The team therefore cannot comprehend how the same bike could now fall below the weight limit.”
Balsamo said: “Of course, it is not the way I want to win but this is a decision of the jury.
“In any case, it’s an honour to wear the maglia rosa and I am looking forward to trying to defend it in tomorrow’s stage.”
The 139km opening stage from Cesenatico, which ended with three laps of a 13.2km city circuit, featured multiple crashes.
Those included one after just 35km, as a result of which Movistar’s British rider Cat Ferguson was forced to abandon the race.
Her team later said the 20-year-old, making her Giro debut, had been taken to hospital for medical evaluation.
Sunday’s second stage – 156km between Roncade and Caorle – will again suit the sprinters.
