"She was a complete mess" - Lorena Wiebes Giro d'Italia expulsion fallout continues as agent blasts "absurd" decision

Lorena Wiebes was a "complete mess" as news broke that the sprinter had been disqualified from the Giro d'Italia Women on Saturday evening. After race judges deemed that her bike did not meet the minimum weight as per UCI regulations, a shock announcement saw her pink jersey, stage win and participation in the race all struck from the record.

The Dutch national champion had surged to a resounding stage 1 victory, taking the pink jersey in dominant fashion by three bike lengths and setting an opening day statement. Hours after podium presentations and attention turning to stage two, the cycling world was rocked by the shock announcement.

The 27-year-old's expulsion comes after it was deemed her bike did not meet the 6.8 kilogram minimum weight. Her team later confirmed that the bike was deemed to have been 6.78 kilograms as SD Worx-Protime confirmed they intend to challenge the decision and will consider legal matters.

Wiebes herself has not spoken publicly since her expulsion from the race. Elisa Balsamo was awarded the pink jersey and stage after finishing in second, and has now taken two further stage wins in Wiebes' absence.

Her agent André Boskamp claimed the sprinter was 'complete mess' in the wake of the news. However, he confirmed that she returned home to the Netherlands to spend time with family before switching focus to the Copenhagen Sprint on June 13th.

“I spoke to her immediately on Saturday evening. She was a complete mess then," Boskamp told Wielerflits.

"I slept badly because of it. But Lorena started arranging her return flight home quite quickly. She landed at Schiphol on Sunday morning and her parents picked her up. Then they went to the beach to clear their heads."

"And on Monday morning, she left for a campsite in Italy in her very special Mercedes camper, to recover from all these impressions for a bit. She had been looking forward to this Giro immensely, and now she is taking a nice break for a few days."

"Lorena has brought her bike along, but she is mainly letting everything sink in. And she won't be reachable for a few days to talk. Not until the Copenhagen Sprint on June 13th.”

Reacting to the ruling, Boskamp questioned the process of weighing bicycles by commissaires and noted that the bike itself had previously passed weigh-ins for other races. Boskamp questioned the decision's impact on the credibility of the sport.

“That is so absurd… What can I say? Lorena just took her bike. They weigh those regularly. The bike has always been fine, even in previous races. It is the same bike with the same components.

He added: "Lorena herself indicated that someone from the team management who was present saw that the inspectors were really fumbling with the scales. The way the jury handled this by acting like that… By doing so, they bring cycling into disrepute. These kinds of decisions undermine the credibility of cycling. Very questionable.”

In the short term, Wiebes is back in action in less than two weeks. Boskamp backed her to come back stronger and put her sprint rivals on notice for the coming weeks.

He concluded: “She needs to adjust her ambitions for a moment. But Lorena will come back strong. Mentally, she is very strong. Knowing her, she will only come out of this stronger.

"So, brace yourself for that Copenhagen Sprint, and after that, the National Championships in Nijmegen follow quickly. A very nice course for her.”