INEOS' diplomatic message after Filippo Ganna was stripped of Algarve win - "Let’s use this opportunity to continue to shine a light on making the best sport in the world a safer one"
Cycling
The Volta ao Algarve has fully taken on the spotlight today as the expected bunch sprint finished ended up with the peloton sprinting on an open road. In the course itself, Filippo Ganna rode to what could only be described as a shocking win. The Italian was announced as the stage winner and talked to the media but was then stripped of the triumph - with a bad reaction.
INEOS Grenadiers' management in Portugal, as seen by Daniel Benson, were reportedly in a heated argument with the Algarve organizers over the decision to nullify the day's results. The Italian is said to have refused to go onto the podium, and there will not be a race leader into stage 2.
However on social media, the team refused to put out a (possibly deserved) inflammatory response. "Following the finish, the decision was made to cancel stage one of the Volta ao Algarve without a result. Cycling is tough. Some days you win but most you lose," the team wrote in a social media post.
Race marshals failed to avoid the riders from steering off-course in a roundabout in the final few hundred meters, and miraculously a disastrous situation was avoided. "We want to pay tribute to the incredible love and dedication that organisers and volunteers put into our sport, as well as its amazing fans".
"We’re thankful that today everyone finished safely, but let’s use this opportunity to continue to shine a light on making the best sport in the world a safer one". Many riders however were not so cordial with their words, and certainly within the British team's camp the emotion is the same. The Italian rider and INEOS as a whole already had abandoned the Etoile de Bessèges over the double-car incidents in the opening days, and now find themselves in an even more shocking situation.
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Following the finish, the decision was made to cancel stage one of the Volta ao Algarve without a result.
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) February 19, 2025
Cycling is tough. Some days you win but most you lose.
We want to pay tribute to the incredible love and dedication that organisers and volunteers put into our sport, as… pic.twitter.com/pwwgnTdIoV
At the very least, give Ganna his win and make everyone finish with the same time. Ganna deserves this because he knows the parcour.
Don't worry, the UCI is too busy to deal with this, as they are banning Kask helmets with 24 hour warning. I feel so safe!
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