Riders stage safety protest before start of Giro di Lombardia

Oct 10 - Riders at the Giro di Lombardia staged a five-minute protest before the start of Saturday's race to highlight growing safety concerns following a series of incidents involving race vehicles, the tournament organisers said.

The protest came days after riders Thomas Gloag and Marcel Camprubi were struck by a police motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction during Tre Valli Varesine.

"At the start of Il Lombardia, the riders came together to send an important message, stopping for five minutes to urge all road users to behave responsibly and show mutual respect, both during races and in everyday life," organisers RCS Sport said in a social media post.

After organisers completed the start countdown, the peloton remained stationary, before Belgium's double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel stepped forward to explain the riders' action.

"There’s too many incidents happening with vehicles in the race," Evenepoel said.

"Unfortunately we lost the life of a brother and of a colleague of us, so we want to make this statement to show to the world that we cannot keep accepting the fact that guys are getting injured or literally dying in what we like the most to do."

Evenepoel was referring to the death of British cyclist Finlay Tarling, younger brother of Ineos rider Josh Tarling, who was killed in a collision with a vehicle during the Tour of Portugal on August 14.

The demonstration delayed the start of the final Monument race of the season by five minutes before the peleton set off.

Reuters has contacted the International Cycling Union (UCI) for comment. REUTERS