The scowls and air of surrender on the faces of the Giro d'Italia management said it all as they left Sunday's post-stage de-brief.
The Milan stage and city-centre circuit finish was supposed to end with a high-speed sprint and so rebuild the Giro d'Italia's relationship with the local authorities after a five-year stand-off.
La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Giro d'Italia and RCS Sport were born in Milan, and the Corsa Rosa finished in the city for a century. However, traffic problems and rider protests in recent years hurt the special relationship, with RCS Sport opting to do a lucrative deal for the Giro to end in the capital Rome, with even the start of Milan-San Remo also moved out of the city to Pavia in exchange for a fee and better police support.
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As the sun set over the Milan Duomo on Sunday, the polemica and debate about the safety of Milan's streets for professional bike races and the riders' demands overshadowed any praise for surprise stage winner Norway's Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility).
Milan-based Corriere della Sera, also owned by RCS Media Group, described Vingegaard's actions an 'ugly loss of class’, suggesting he could have ridden at the back of the peloton if he thought he was in real danger.
Respected journalist Cristiano Gatti, who is never afraid to defend or attack the riders, RCS Sport or the UCI, wrote on Tuttobicweb that the 'whiners won', suggesting "Ability has been abolished, it's all about watts, the riders don't even take 0.01% risk."
Many Giro observers were surprised that the UCI chief commissaire for the race Vincente Tortajada Villarroya and the Giro d'Italia management bowed so quickly to the riders' request. They have set a precedent for the final week of racing in the mountains. Will similar decisions be taken on mountain descents and next Sunday in central Rome, where the roads are arguably in a worse state?
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) accepted his responsibility as Giro race leader and pushed for the neutralisation when he spoke to the Tortajada Villarroya and Rosella Bonfanti of RCS Sport in the race director's car.
"They were really friendly with us, listened to what we had to say, and I think we as riders should thank them for meeting us somewhere," Vingegaard said post race, revealing some details of the Milano compromise.
However, RCS Sport CEO Paolo Bellini was not so 'friendly' in the pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday.
"I think the riders went too far in what they said. The Milan circuit was beautiful, well-designed and not dangerous," Bellino said.
"We inspected every metre of the course and the safety of it was perfectly guaranteed.
"This is my personal opinion but I think it would have been enough to take the GC times with five kilometres to go."
In truth, the state of the central Milan roads were evident to whoever drove into the city on Sunday.
The Milan tram tracks are notorious amongst local cyclists and are often surrounded by uneven slabs of polished stone. Traffic furniture is frequent, and roads slick and often dirty from the constant traffic.
The roughness of the stone slabs was clear to see on on-board race video footage, while one rider suggested they crossed the tram track eight times on each of the four 16km circuits.
"I think during the race and when we hit the laps, we realised it probably is not the most safe course. We were speaking in the bunch. And I don't think you could actually see it on television, normally you cannot see how it is," Vingegaard claimed.
The first passage of the circuit was enough to spark a debate about safety in the peloton. Vingegaard's loyal lieutenant Victor Campenaerts was the first to drop back to the race director's car. Vingeggard was also seen talking to Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos), arguably the Italian rider with the biggest profile in the peloton and so also a de-facto leader of the peloton.
Campenaerts is one of three CPA rider association representatives for the Giro, along with Simone Consonni (Lidl-Trek) and Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-QuickStep). Cristian Salvato, the president of the Italian Professional Cyclists’ Association represented the CPA.
RCS Sport wasn't happy, but there was a clear consensus in the peloton to neutralise the GC times with a lap to go. Even the sprinters' teams wanted the GC riders and teams out of the way on the last lap.
"I will take responsibility for going to the car, but we also spoke within the bunch, and we took care of each other," Vingegaard.
"I think that safety in cycling is in everyone's interest. We can't just point fingers at each other; everyone has a responsibility, and obviously, we as riders ourselves."
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