"He can get as angry as he wants" - Italian team dismiss Remco Evenepoel reaction over moment with Giulio Ciccone caught on camera
Cycling
Italy's technical director Roberto Amadio has hit back at Remco Evenepoel's angry reaction to his instructions to Giulio Ciccone in the finale of Sunday's European Championships elite men's road race in Slovenia.
The Belgium rider took the spoils in a two-up sprint to the line after both riders distanced themselves from the rest of the field on the penultimate lap. Sharing the workload over the final 30 kilometres, the pair worked in harmony until the race developed in Italy's favour in the final kilometres.
With Christian Scaroni in chase behind and riding to a bronze medal, Amadio in the Italy team car pulled up alongside the pair to issue instructions to the Lidl-Trek rider, telling him not to contribute with Evenepoel for the final kilometres as he had a teammate behind.
The moment spurred an angry reaction from Evenepoel, who visibly reacted to the instructions as he asked for help with the workload in driving the pair to the finish, with the move allowing Ciccone to conserve more energy heading into a sprint to the line.
“We rode our race. He can get as angry as he wants. The guys stuck to the plan, so there’s nothing to complain about,” he told bici.pro.
Ciccone acknowledges tactical move and Evenepoel response
Ciccone also acknowledged the tactical move and why it would anger Evenepoel but admitted that it's a result of the race situation. While initially soaring around the final corner and opening a gap in the sprint, Evenepoel's last-ditch sprint helped him secure a photo-finish victory by the smallest of margins - 0.00023 seconds.
“First of all, I want to say: congratulations to Remco. He’s incredibly strong, and I also had a bit of luck with the situation in the race, with Scaroni behind us. So I took advantage of the situation to get on his wheel.
"I understand that it wasn't a favourable situation for him in the lead group, but well, that's just part of the race."
Remco Evenepoel outsprinted Giulio Ciccone in a photo-finish at the European Championships
Ciccone questions photo finish
Meanwhile, Ciccone has since taken to Instagram to question the photo finish loss to the Belgian, claiming that he wants to see the photo of the "real finish line" in a passionate plea.
"I've looked at the available images hundreds of times and, in the filming where the finish line is visible, I keep seeing a dynamic that I cannot reconcile with that verdict," he wrote on Instagram.
While the available photo and line showed the mere milimetres Evenepoel had seemigly won by, Ciccone claimed that he cannot accept the verdict without seeing another photo finish of the finale.
"If a European title is decided by 2.8 milliseconds of a second, I think it’s legitimate to ask that that very passage can be shown with the same precision with which the result was determined.
"I'm not asking that a television shot will replace photo finish. I'm not questioning the value of Remco nor the amazing race he ran. I am asking a very simple question: see the photo finish on the real finish line."
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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