"The influence of motorcycles is actually quite significant" - Zonneveld on the Giro d'Italia's most controversial stage to date

Stage 15 was the penultimate sprint opportunity for the fast men at this Giro d'Italia with an iconic finale in the center of Milano. However, the day ended up being marked by criticism over motorbikes, a shocking breakaway win and a GC neutralization due to the dangerous urban circuit. A lot to tackle on a day where very little action was expected.

"It’s not that the peloton miscalculated. They gave a maximum of two minutes and rode with many teams behind. If you give a good group five minutes and you don't close the gap, while you get closer very quickly at the end but don't make it... then you've really messed it up as a peloton," Zonneveld argued on the In de Waaier podcast.

The breakaway's survival out front was the main topic of the day, with the main three sprinter teams fully devoting to a chase but failing to catch the four-rider breakaway which marked the day. With a speed of over 51Km/h all day long, it was a hard day even for the men that were able to sit in the peloton throughout the entire stage.

This is the result of many variables but notably, the quality and coordination of the men up front. "That hardly happens anymore. The lesser riders have become much better in this era. They really rode very, very hard at the front. That is because they are simply special guys. Someone like [Mirco] Maestri is just very good at this. He is really very strong, just a beast on the bike. The same goes for [Fredrik] Dversnes".

However no matter how impressive it was, the stage finished with sharp remarks. To Eurosport, several riders in post-race interviews alluded to the influence of motorbikes assisting the front riders with slipstreaming.

When analyzing the peloton's focused pursuit, it is difficult to understand how the group managed to survive in the head of the race all the way to the line. "I think it was sensible that they only gave them two minutes. It wasn't a mistake on the part of the peloton. How is it possible that four guys stay ahead of a peloton where, as Elmar Reinders said, 30 men are being eaten up?"

"The explanation is something that has been starting to sting more and more lately: motorcycles and cars in front of the leading group, or in front of the peloton," Zonneveld argues. "You also see today that men from Uno-X tried to send motorcycles away from the peloton. You could see, certainly in an earlier phase, that the motorcycles were really very close to the leading group".

The Dutch pundit believes that this could've also been the deciding factor in the stage, with the front riders only holding out a few seconds over the peloton by the time Fredrik Dversnes sprinted to victory, the biggest of his career.

The amount of vehicles present in the race and a circuit with plenty urban obstacles proved to be a nightmare for the chasing peloton. "With a local circuit like that, it's perhaps even more of an issue, because motorcycles want more footage. If you're riding on a circuit with a lot of corners, you have to ride closer".

"I grabbed Strava for a moment to see how fast [Alec] Segaert and the peloton were riding. Last 20 kilometers, the difference was 1:10 minutes then, I believe an average of 55.7Km/h. You simply can't say that they were standing still. That is really ridiculous".

Lidl-Trek, Soudal - Quick-Step and Unibet Rose Rockets deployed all of their domestiques and leadout men to try and close the gap, but it was still not possible. Above a miscalculation, it was the absence of power to hold an incredibly high speed for such a large amount of time in the peloton.

"You saw that occasionally in the peloton when the speed was displayed, that they were riding at 60 the whole time. That you're in a four-man breakaway there... then you'd expect to have three Gannas and Dversnes at the front. It was just going really fast in the peloton."

For Zonneveld, it is impossible to deny that motorbikes had influence in the outcome. "The influence of motorcycles is actually quite significant. I get messages from people who aren't very far from the peloton. They say this is what you get when a big team starts complaining in a Grand Tour," he explains.

"Then in the Giro, they just put two extra motorcycles in front of the breakaway. There are many people who think this, but of course, you can't prove it. There are very few rules, especially for motorcycles."