Bradley Wiggins has criticised the Giro d’Italia peloton for its protest today that saw more than 100km of stage 19 being cut from the course.
He also noted how the protest was more determined and effective than the Tour de France riders were able to manage with a protest against racism on the final day into Paris.
It appeared to him that today, the stand was so strong compared to the Tour, some Giro riders were motivated by "selfishness for themselves". He suggested riders should "at least fight for something meaningful", such as the anti racism message.
Today’s Giro stage was initially intended to be 258km but some 8km after the start, with rain pouring down, the riders stopped and got into their team vehicles as a form of protest at the length of the race so late in a Grand Tour.
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In the end the stage re-stated down the course, at Abbiategrasso, with just 124km to race to the finish in Asti, with some riders saying afterwards they had raised their concerns with the race director on Thursday and were ignored.
“I think it’s just a bit of a shambles really and it’s a shame for everyone involved,” Wiggins said, adding the riders needed more unity and to speak more clearly and with a single voice.
"Where's Jonathan Vaughters now with his open letters? He's disappeared back home... he's got his trotters up. Where's our president of the UCI who pops up once a year with his estate agent's outfit at the Tour de France?
"And I think that's the problem; there's no voice here. Where's the leader of the (riders union) CPA?" he added, speaking on The Breakaway show on Eurosport.
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The stage was eventually won by Josef Černý (CCC Team) after he got clear in a breakaway and then attacked it to take a brilliant win.
While some riders wanted the stage shortened because of the bad weather, the long stages in recent days and long transfers, or they were concerned about their immune system in the pandemic, Wiggins said “they should go home then” as Grand Tours were a test of endurance.
Such protests would “diminish” the race and the protest should have been planned long before the past 24 hours, when the length of the stage was raised as an issue of concern.
Bradley Wiggins also noted the riders were very well paid in cycling now, though they deserved it. He also said it was a "privilege" to race a bike, especially at a time when front line workers were working so hard.
At the same time, he accepted if he was a rider he would have been in favour of the protest, but he saw it from the opposite side of the fence now.
“That will affect the stage tomorrow,” Wiggins said of the impact of today's stage being cut as greater levels of fatigue would have built up had the stage been as long as initially planned.
“We’d already got shortened stage tomorrow…. It’s part of
Grand Tour racing; the endurance of getting through the whole thing.”
He said the riders would now go away for the winter,
after the Giro, and nothing would be said and long stages would occur again in
next year’s Grand Tours, with no meaningful change being brought about.
But cycling had “fallen down as a sport” by letting down spectators and the TV stations broadcasting the race, as well as other stakeholders; many of whom would be "angry" at the stage being cut.
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