“They didn’t keep their word” - Einer Rubio and Giulio Ciccone throw mutual accusations after broken deal

Stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia delivered a lot of GC action but amongst those who were aiming for the stage win, there was perhaps a bigger battle. Einer Rubio and Giulio Ciccone were chasing a stage win all Giro and looked in tremendous form. However, they seem to be coming out of it without a win and disappointed. Emotions escalated tremendously this Friday as the two accused each other of breaking an agreement they have made.

The duo were even together in front at a certain point in the stage, breaking away from the rest of the breakaway on the climb to Coi. But on the Passo Falzarego, the penultimate climb of the day, tensions escalated dramatically. Seemingly, Rubio struck a verbal agreement with the Lidl-Trek riders. And then it was broken.

“I agreed with Lidl-Trek to work together, let Ciccone win the mountains classification so he’d leave me the Red Bull Kilometer, but they didn’t keep their word. They wanted to be clever," Rubio said in a post-race interview.

It had not been clear what the reason for Rubio's protests against Derek Gee was at first, with the Colombian having no interest in the points classification or the overall classification - whilst the Canadian was actively seeking time in his bid for the race podium.

According to the Colombian’s account, they had agreed to divide the intermediate prizes. Rubio said he helped Ciccone lock down his KOM points on the promise that he would take the special sprint.

“We spoke with Ciccone: he’d take the KOM, and I even helped pull so I could then take the Red Bull kilometre, but they played smart and took both,” he said, visibly frustrated.

The Movistar climber did not hide his disappointment at the lack of camaraderie on the road and closed with a stark reflection on peloton ethics: “They don’t keep their word. It’s cycling, but sometimes you have to be human first.”

At the top of the climb, Rubio then sprinted to beat Ciccone, despite the classification being virtually sealed in the Italian's direction. This looked to be a move of revenge, not chasing the stage win or even Rubio's personal ambitions. Rubio now argued with Ciccone at the top of the climb, before Ciccone attacked on the descent.

In words following the stage, Ciccone was also asked about the incident with Rubio, and he was not gentle on his words. Whilst the Lidl-Trek rider was able to climb into the lead of the KOM classification, his pursuit of a stage win at this Giro once again led to a disappointment, as was the case in all other stages for various reasons. This time around, he was caught with 2 kilometers to go with Sepp Kuss taking the win.

"Rubio got angry because he wanted the Red Bull Kilometers, but it was a thing for GC riders due to bonifications, I had nothing to do with that," Ciccone said. But then Rubio came back to 'steal' points from him at the top of the mountains. "He thought it was my fault," Ciccone believes.

"I did a mistake on KOM, I trusted him, but what he did was a pretty petty move," the Italian said in a war of words that is not common to be made public.