Jasper Stuyven slams Giro race direction after mass crash - 'He stuck his head out of the car like a scared dog'

The incident came with 23 kilometres remaining on a rain soaked run in to Veliko Tarnovo, where around 30 riders went down in one of the most chaotic moments of the race so far. 

UAE Team Emirates-XRG were among the hardest hit. Jay Vine and Marc Soler were both taken to hospital, while Adam Yates lost more than 13 minutes after crashing heavily. Santiago Buitrago was also forced to abandon and was sent for further checks, ending his Giro before the race had even left Bulgaria.

The stage was temporarily neutralised while medical teams attended to the fallen riders. But speaking afterwards to HLN, Stuyven said the situation should not have been allowed to restart in the same way. The Belgian was riding in support of teammate Paul Magnier, who had started the day in the maglia rosa, with a descent still to come.

“There were no ambulances left,” Stuyven said. “But there was still a descent coming that could be dangerous.”

According to HLN, several riders used the neutralisation to speak with race direction, including Stuyven, Victor Campenaerts, Jonas Vingegaard, Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan. 

Their request, Stuyven explained, was not to cancel the stage altogether. Instead, they wanted the general classification times to be neutralised, leaving riders who still wanted to contest the stage free to do so, while removing the pressure on GC contenders to take further risks on wet roads.

“We wanted, after that crash, a neutralisation of the times for the classification,” Stuyven said. “That way the daredevils could still fight for the stage win, but no unnecessary risks had to be taken on that next descent.”

His strongest criticism was aimed at the way the call was communicated. “The race director said they were looking into it,” Stuyven said. “After which he stuck his head out of the car like a scared dog, started waving his flag and shouted ‘race’. Then he quickly put his head back inside the car.”

Once the race restarted, the action resumed almost immediately before the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass. Jonas Vingegaard attacked on the climb, only for the leading group to be brought back inside the final kilometre. Guillermo Thomas Silva then sprinted to victory in Veliko Tarnovo, taking the biggest win of his career and moving into the maglia rosa.

Yet the sporting result was quickly overshadowed by the debate around rider safety. After two difficult days in Bulgaria, the Giro continues with a heavily bruised peloton, several high profile withdrawals and renewed questions over how race direction manages safety and responds in moments of crisis.