CPA riders association president Adam Hansen was at the finish of stage 16, seeing with his own eyes the fatigue and suffering of riders at the Giro d’Italia.
The former pro rider prefers to have a discrete presence but led the stance against RCS Sports’ desire and pressure to race stage 16 of the Corsa Rosa as planned and so climb the 2488-metre-high Umbrail Pass, despite forecasts for snow, rain and freezing conditions on the long descent.
Hansen has largely united the riders since being elected CPA president in March 2023 by defending their interests. He stood firm against Giro d’Italia organiser RCS Sport in Livigno.
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RCS Sport announced on Monday that after a meeting with the CPA and other stakeholders, the stage would go over the Umbrail Pass, only to be forced to back down on Tuesday morning as the weather worsened and local authorities closed the mountain road. The riders had voted against RCS Sport’s plans and Hansen made that clear in a CPA communique early on Tuesday morning.
RCS Sport then tried to force the riders to fake the stage start and ride 18km around Livigno to ensure the ski resort paid its contracted start fee, before jumping into team vehicles for a transfer to the other side of the Umbrail Pass.
RCS Sport’s intransigence made the start, and the sport, a farce, with a delay in making a final decision leaving everyone unsure of what would happen.
Hansen had warned RCS Sport not to challenge the desire and unity of the riders but he claimed they didn’t listen to him.
“It wasn't a good look for cycling,” Hansen admitted to Cyclingnews and FloBikes at the finish as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) celebrated his fifth stage win and the other riders quickly descended the climb to their team buses.
“We were trying to avoid that, we were trying to avoid a protest or a stance at the start. We showed our position from the meeting on the rest day, we presented the proposal that was discussed to the riders, and we knew there was snow and two degrees and snow at the top of Umbrailpass, and we stuck to that.
“They thought the riders wouldn’t stick together, and they tried to push the riders to race but the riders stood together and they wouldn't go to the start. All the riders wanted to do was a proper race and start to finish without neutralising, without stopping, and to put on a show.”
Hansen was involved in similar disputes, polemica and protests at the Giro d’Italia during his career. Now he is working to improve working conditions for the riders in numerous ways. The UCI’s Extreme Weather Protocol has now been added to his list.
“We need to make the Extreme Weather Protocol a bit more specific, It's too general,” he suggested.
“There were two points this time: freezing rain and extreme temperatures, which was today. So we could have invoked the protocol, without all the debate and discussions.”
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