Riders to wear helmet stickers instead to register discontent
The riders’ protest, which was to delay the start of tomorrow’s Giro di Lombardia by 10 minutes, has been called off, according to tuttobiciweb.it. Instead the riders will wear stickers on their helmets to register their solidarity in the face of comments from Etorre Torri, the chief anti-doping prosecutor of the Italian Olympic committee (CONI).
Earlier this month Torri pointed the blanket accusation at all professional cyclists, claiming that they all used doping products. Many riders and team managers took exception to his words, prompting the proposed action to be taken before tomorrow’s race.
The planned rider strike was announced after yesterday’s Giro di Piemonte by race winner, and defending Lombardia champion, Philippe Gilbert (OmegaPharma-Lotto). The Belgian said that he had been asked to announce the protest by Czech rider Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas-Doimo); as soon as his words appeared in the media though, it became clear that the protest had less than 100% support in the peloton.
One of those riders to speak out against Torri’s accusation, HTC-Columbia’s Marco Pinotti, was also one of the first to declare his opposition to the strike.
“I personally don’t know about any delayed start,” he said via his Twitter page. “And I personally don’t agree with it.”
Instead of the strike, riders who wish to show their displeasure at Torri’s comments will wear stickers on their helmets reading: “Io corro con il cuore” (I race with my heart). In addition 2000 race bottles will be distributed at the race start, on the Madonna del Ghisallo, and at the finish containing a “message in a bottle” to the fans on the iconic climb.
The bottles contain a leaflet which says “If we know that there is doping in cycling, perhaps it is because cycling is fighting it seriously”; it then lists a number of statistics about the number of tests, the amount of money that cycling invests in anti-doping, and that riders have to be available 365 days a year for random testing.
An appeal is also being made to CONI, compelling its most high-profile officer to comply with its code of conduct and not make such blanket statements in future, which might destabilise the whole sport.