Lorenzo Milesi finishes ninth in Giro time trial despite racing in ice vest - ‘I forgot to take it off’
Lorenzo Milesi produced one of the more unusual sights of this year’s Giro d’Italia time trial on Tuesday, completing the entire stage while still wearing his ice vest.
The Italian Movistar rider had used the cooling vest during his warm-up, but forgot to take it off before rolling down the start ramp. By the time he realised what had happened, there was little he could do.
“I forgot to take off my ice vest,” Milesi said afterwards, smiling in an interview with Eurosport. “I realised it immediately after the start, but then I couldn’t take it off anymore. It was too late. I just told myself to keep riding my tempo. At that point, it didn’t matter anymore. I just had to see how it would go.”
Despite the unexpected extra layer, Milesi still delivered a strong performance against the clock. He eventually finished ninth, two minutes and 40 seconds behind stage winner Filippo Ganna.
Milesi admitted the mistake may have cost him time, but he was able to laugh about it after the finish.
“It would definitely have gone better without the vest, so that is a lesson learned,” he said. “We will try again in the next stages. The vest was definitely not cold anymore.”
The incident immediately drew comparisons with Geraint Thomas, who made a similar mistake during the opening time trial of the 2022 Tour de France in Copenhagen. Milesi, however, said he had not been aware of that story.
“I didn’t know about that,” he laughed. “But now I do.”
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