Lorena Wiebes urges UCI rule rethink after Giro disqualification: 'This still feels like injustice'

The Dutch sprinter of SD Worrx-Protime had won the opening stage in commanding fashion before being removed from the race after officials ruled that her bike was below the minimum permitted weight. The decision cost her both the stage victory and her place in the race.

Speaking on the podcast La Koers, Wiebes described the hours after the verdict as some of the most difficult of her career. At first, she said, she assumed the punishment might be limited to losing the leader’s jersey.

“When I came back from the podium ceremony, I saw that my bike was still there,” Wiebes said. “That felt strange straight away. Then I heard my sports director ask whether they were really going to throw me out of the Giro for this. At that moment, I knew something was seriously wrong.”

According to Wiebes, the confusion was made worse by the fact that the bike’s weight appeared to vary between checks. She said her team had weighed the bike and found it to be within the rules, both before and after the incident.

“If the measurement had been the same every time, it would have been easier to accept,” she said. “You could still question the equipment, but at least it would have been consistent. Now it kept changing, and that made it much harder to understand.”

Wiebes stressed that she does not blame the mechanics at SD Worx. She said they had been shaken by the incident but insisted she never felt anger towards them.

“They felt guilty, of course, but I never blamed them,” she said. “I saw the team weigh the bike. It is very hard for me to believe that they simply got it wrong.”

The disqualification led Wiebes to leave Italy, but her stay at home did not last long. After seeing her camper parked outside on her doorbell camera, she decided to return to the race route and support her teammates. Together with her partner, Movistar rider Floortje Mackaij, she drove back to Italy and spent time near Lake Garda before rejoining the atmosphere around the Giro.

“I still wanted to support the girls,” Wiebes said. “They were riding in pink, and I wanted to be there for them. The evening of the decision was really tough, but once I was home I thought, why not go back?”

She has since resumed training and said the frustration even pushed her to set personal records on the bike.

The case has caused anger within SD Worx, which is challenging the decision. Wiebes said she understands why the team is taking further action, arguing that the penalty raises broader questions about fairness and responsibility.

“As a rider, you do not think about weighing your own bike,” she said. “You want to be aerodynamic, you want to be ready to race. This was not something I could influence. That is what makes it feel so wrong. If I had sprinted illegally, I could accept the consequences. Then it would have been my own fault. But this does not feel like something I did.”

Wiebes also questioned whether disqualification is an appropriate punishment in such circumstances, especially when the issue was not connected to rider safety or dangerous racing.

“I would like the UCI to look again at the rules,” she said. “Should a rider really be punished so heavily for something they cannot control? Maybe a yellow card, a relegation or a fine for the team would make more sense. If it happens again, then you can talk about removing someone from the race.”

She acknowledged that bike weight rules exist for a reason and that lighter equipment can offer an advantage, especially in mountain stages. But in her view, the punishment in this case was disproportionate.

“In a flat stage, are you really going to ride minutes faster because a bike is slightly too light?” she said. “It is a difficult subject, I understand that. But the measurements must be reliable. There cannot be fluctuations.”

To Wiebes, the ruling also exposes an uncomfortable imbalance in the sport: technical infringements can bring the harshest possible punishment, while rider safety remains a recurring concern.

“Some finishes and courses are extremely dangerous,” she said. “That should be the priority. This had nothing to do with safety, and that is why it feels so unfair.”

Despite the disappointment, Wiebes said she has tried to move on as quickly as possible. Her family also struggled with the news. She recalled that her grandmother called her in distress, worried that the punishment meant she would never be allowed to race again.

“Luckily, that is not the case,” Wiebes said. “But it shows how strange the whole situation felt.”

For now, the sprintster is back on the bike, supporting her teammates and waiting to see whether the controversy leads to any change. Her message is clear: rules matter, but so does proportionality.

“The most important thing is that the UCI makes sure this cannot happen in such a confusing way again,” she said. “Because for me, this still feels like injustice.”