Giro d’Italia 2023: UCI 'condemns' use of helicopters at end of Stage 7, 'goes against fair play'

Published 13/05/2023 at 12:51 GMT

Dan Lloyd and Robbie McEwen strongly disagreed with the UCI’s statement condemning teams who used helicopters to speed up transfer time after Friday’s finish on Gran Sasso. The UCI said it would take “necessary measures and sanctions” to avoid a repeat in the future. Remco Evenepoel’s Soudal-QuickStep were among the teams to take a helicopter off the mountain.

Lloyd and McEwen brand UCI helicopter statement 'absolutely ridiculous'

The UCI has condemned teams who used helicopters to airlift their riders off the mountain after Stage 7’s summit finish at the Giro d’Italia on Friday, saying it "goes against the principles of fair play".

With the bus convoy parked 26km down the snowy Gran Sasso, some teams flew their riders direct from the mountaintop to their hotels to cut transfer time ahead of a bumper weekend.

Other teams used gondolas, which were open to the public, to make their way down to the buses. The helicopter trip reportedly saved two hours on the gondola-bus combo.

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Soudal-QuickStep shared a picture on social media of some of their riders, including race favourite Remco Evenepoel, transferring via helicopter. Bora-Hansgrohe and Bahrain Victorious also reportedly used helicopters, with the UCI saying it would "take necessary measures and sanctions" to avoid a repeat in future.

"The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) notes that helicopter transport was used by some riders to leave the finish area after the end of the 7th stage of the Giro d'Italia, between Capua and Gran Sasso d'Italia," read a statement from cycling's governing body.

"This constitutes an advantage that goes against the principles of fair play and the regulatory provisions for ensuring equal treatment for transfer of teams to their hotels."

The UCI also took aim at the climate impact of using helicopters.

"In addition, some riders’ use of a helicopter transport for this purpose goes against the principle of carbon footprint reduction, as stated in the UCI WorldTour organiser specifications," the statement continued.

"The UCI will take necessary measures and sanctions to ensure that such a practice does not occur in the future. The UCI firmly condemns this behaviour which goes against the principles of fair play and equity, the fundamental values of sport."

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Ahead of Stage 8 on Saturday, The Breakaway gang disagreed with the UCI's statement.

"The argument about 'some teams can afford it, other teams can't' is absolutely ridiculous," said Dan Lloyd.

"Do you know how much they are spending to go faster on their bikes? Particularly in the time trial.

"The amount they would have spent on individual riders, like Remco Evenepoel or Filippo Ganna, to ensure they are going through the air as quickly as possible.

"You compare that, say, to Green Project-Bardiani... the helicopter ride would make little to no difference compared to all the money that is spent on that."

Robbie McEwen added: " [Suppose] you can't have Primoz Roglic on your team for €4 million because that's not fair? Where does it stop?"

Ineos Grenadiers were among the teams to leave the summit via the gondola.

The team suffered a huge blow ahead of Stage 8 after Filippo Ganna was forced to quit the race following a positive Covid test.

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