La Vuelta 2020 - UCI reject Froome and Ineos time gap appeal as Vuelta peloton call change ‘unfair’
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Updated 31/10/2020 at 17:30 GMT
The UCI have confirmed that the general classification standings will remain in place at La Vuelta after a rider protest. Chris Froome, acting as patron of the peloton, led the appeal ahead of Stage 11 of the Vuelta that saw the racing delayed. It is believed at least ten teams, including Jumbo-Visma, were in support of the protest.
Chris Froome | La Vuelta 2020
Image credit: Getty Images
An appeal from the cycling union at the Vuelta has been rejected by the UCI after a protest delayed the start of Stage 11 on Saturday.
The riders, led by Ineos and Chris Froome, were appealing against the rule change made retrospectively after Friday’s Stage 10 on time gaps, which saw the lead of the race change hands and a number of riders lose seconds in the general classification.
The root of the riders' complaints is that the time gaps awarded on the stage were judged on different criteria from what race organisers had initially suggested.
Teams had been told that Stage 10 was to be treated with the mass sprint stage protocol. On such a stage groups of riders are only considered to be separate if there is a gap of over three seconds between the last rider of the first group and the first rider of the second group. If gaps between groups are smaller then all riders are awarded the same time. In a stage without the mass sprint protocol then that required gap reduces to one second rather than three.
The ruling was brought in to make bunch sprints safer and allow general classification contenders and support riders to drop back slightly and remove the risk of crashes. And on Friday teams were told that the stage would be raced with the three-second rule at the finish.
However, after Primoz Roglic's win, the race organisers implemented a one-second gap rule, meaning there were greater time losses for a number of riders - Richard Carapaz lost three seconds and Hugh Carthy ten, for example. And the riders protesting say that the race would have been ridden differently had the race organisers made that decision at the start rather than retrospectively.
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Michael Woods - 'The UCI made a mistake, you can't change time gap rules on a whim'
However, the UCI confirmed shortly before the end of Stage 11 that the standings will remain as they are, releasing a statement that said:
"Stage 10 of the Vuelta was initially identified as expected to finish in a bunch sprint by the organisation.
Given the actual uphill profile of the final kilometre and that there was no bunch sprint finish, provision 5 of the applicable protocol, allowing the Commissaires’ Panel to interpret situations as necessary and implement any exceptions, was applied after the race.
"The time gap calculation was hence maintained at the standard 1 second. Stage and general classification standings are upheld."
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'The Incredible Hulk you could say!' - Watch Roglic's brilliant win in Stage 10
"It was a mistake on the UCI’s part and the commissaires part," Michael Woods of EF Pro Cycling said as the riders delayed the start of Saturday's stage.
"They initially said at the start of the stage it was going to be a three-second gap instead of a one-second gap. Looking at the finish it should have been a one-second gap, but that’s what they said at the start. But at the finish they changed their mind.
I don’t think that’s fair, I don’t think you can just change the rules on a whim. Because that alters how we would have raced.
"Obviously Hugh (Carthy) would have been more aggressive running into the finish, trying to get further up in position just so he wouldn’t have to make up for those time gaps, his support would have gone harder to close up a gap. If you’re going to change the rules like that it changes how you would have raced.
"We’ve been talking with the CPA in terms of trying to put up a protest. I think everyone’s on board including Jumbo-Visma, even though they wouldn’t benefit from this ruling.
"It’s such a tight GC battle and you look at the way Primoz Roglic and Richard Carapaz are riding, and even the way Hugh beside me and Dan Martin are riding, it’s really tight. You’re going to see tight time gaps I think, so three seconds, ten seconds, that’s going to be a difference maker for sure."
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George Bennett - 'Jumbo-Visma support the GC protest even if it means we lose the red jersey'
Jumbo Visma were the team with most to lose from a successful appeal, however Roglic's team-mate George Bennett say the team supported the principle of the protest.
"We’re supporting the appeal, it should have been a three-second rule," he said. "That shouldn’t change much, but it has almost changed who has the responsibility in the race, it’s weird.
"I’m not thinking about it too much, I’ve got a radio and I get told what to do, I’ve just got to be there for the stage. Ultimately my job doesn’t change much either way, I’ve got to be there with Primoz for the final climb.
I heard from Ineos that there were some guys wanting to protest. We agree, they said it was a three-second rule so it should have been a three-second rule. And if that means we don’t get the jersey then we don’t.
"We agree that they should have stuck by the rules that they said, because even guys like Hugh Carthy lost ten seconds and he was only one second off my group."
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