“Like a scared dog, he shouted ‘race’ then quickly put his head back in the car” - Race director slammed after mass crash left Giro d’Italia without ambulance cover

Jasper Stuyven has delivered a furious criticism of race direction at the Giro d’Italia after Stage 2 was restarted following a huge crash, despite riders believing the race had been left without full ambulance cover.

The second stage in Bulgaria had already turned into one of the most chaotic days of the race when around 30 riders went down on rain-soaked roads with 23km remaining. UAE Team Emirates - XRG were hit particularly hard, with Jay Vine and Marc Soler both taken to hospital, while Adam Yates finished more than 13 minutes behind stage winner Guillermo Thomas Silva after crashing heavily.

Santiago Buitrago was also forced to abandon and taken to hospital for further checks, adding another major name to the list of riders removed from the Giro by the same incident.

The race was neutralised for several kilometres while medical vehicles dealt with the fallen riders. But Stuyven, speaking afterwards to HLN, said the situation should have been handled differently before racing was allowed to resume. “There were no ambulances left,” Stuyven said. “But there was still a descent coming that could be dangerous.”

According to HLN, several riders spoke with race direction during the neutralisation, including Stuyven, Victor Campenaerts, Jonas Vingegaard, Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan.

Stuyven said the riders were not asking for the stage to be cancelled entirely. Instead, they wanted the general classification times to be neutralised, allowing those willing to take risks to continue fighting for the stage win while removing the need for GC riders to race the following descent at full intensity.

“We wanted, after that crash, a neutralisation of the times for the classification, so that the daredevils could still fight for the stage win, but no unnecessary risks had to be taken on that next descent,” Stuyven explained.

That request came after a crash serious enough to reshape the entire race. Vine was taken away on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance, Soler was also sent to hospital, Yates lost huge time, and Buitrago’s Giro ended before the race had even left Bulgaria.

Stuyven’s strongest criticism was reserved for the way he felt the decision was communicated. “The race director said they were looking into it,” he said. “After which he stuck his head out of the car like a scared dog, started waving his flag and shouted ‘race’. Then he quickly put his head back inside the car.”

The stage did eventually continue, with Jonas Vingegaard attacking on the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass before Guillermo Thomas Silva won from the chasing group and moved into the Maglia Rosa.

But the sporting outcome was almost secondary to the wider safety debate. After two crash-marred stages in Bulgaria, the Giro now heads into Stage 3 with the peloton already carrying heavy physical damage and growing frustration over how the race has been managed.