Bardian-CSF-7 Saber rider Enrico Zanoncello has been kicked out of the 2026 Giro d’Italia after headbutting rival sprinter Bob Donaldson (Jayco-AlUla) in the closing metres of stage 15.
The pair were shoulder-to-shoulder heading into the finale, with the sprinters foiled by a breakaway quartet a few seconds up the road. 24-year-old Donaldson came down in the incident as Uno-X Mobility’s Frederik Dversnes took a surprise victory in Milan.
28-year-old Zanoncello was disqualified from the race by the jury after footage was reviewed. The officials stated that the exact infringement was a “deviation from the chosen line that endangers another rider (blow from the head).”
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Zanoncello was also given a 500CHF fine, docked 13 points in the points classification (he started the day with 14) and was given a yellow card.
Under rules established by the UCI at the beginning of the 2025 season, riders who are awarded two yellow cards in a single race are disqualified and suspended from racing for seven days. However, Zanoncello’s actions were deemed serious enough to warrant an immediate disqualification.
It’s rare for riders to be instantly disqualified from Grand Tours by the race jury. Recent examples include Tony Martin and Luke Rowe’s expulsions from the 2019 Tour de France after a physical altercation. Gianni Moscon (now Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was kicked out of the Tour a year earlier, also due to a physical misdemeanour.
Zanoncello had been riding his third Giro d’Italia and came in as the Bardiani-CSF-7 Saber’s primary sprinter. He achieved top-10s in stages 3 and 6.
Donaldson, who recently signed a contract extension with Jayco-AlUla until the end of 2028, was left with a ripped skinsuit and road rash on his left side. He was the only rider to come down in the crash. “I’m fine, sort of,” Donaldson reported on his Instagram story a few hours after the stage.
A team representative confirmed to Cyclingnews on Monday morning that the Brit had come away with only minor injuries, saying: “Bob is good, fortunately only some skin bruises.”
Safety concerns had been raised about the finale of the stage, with race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) among others negotiating with race commissaires over a race neutralisation.
A decision was made that the final five kilometres of the day would not count for the General Classification, but the sprint battle for the stage would go ahead.
In the end, there were no major incidents on the road into Milan aside from the coming together between Zanoncello and Donaldson, as Dversnes took his first Grand Tour stage victory.
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