Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) used his influence as the overall leader to request that race officials enforce a GC-times neutralisation on the last lap of a four-lap final circuit, citing collective concerns among the riders about the rough road surfaces on stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia on Sunday.
Speaking about rider safety in a post-race press conference, he emphasised the importance of all stakeholders in the sport working together to keep the peloton safe.
"I would have done it anyway, even without the pink jersey, but with the pink jersey, it has more power, in some way," Vingegaard said.
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"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 did not want to reveal who in the peloton discussed the conditions of the circuits, but instead said he took full responsibility as the rider who approached the officials' vehicles during the race to discuss the neutralisation.
"I will take responsibility for going to the car, but also, we speak within the bunch, and we take care of each other. I think that is something we showed today, for once, we banded together a bit, and the organisation was meeting us somewhere, which was really nice today."
Stage 15 closed out the second week of racing at the Giro d'Italia with a 157km race from Voghera to Milan. The route included four 15km finishing circuits held on narrow city streets and rougher road surfaces.
"We went to the jury and organization," Vingegaard explained. "We talked with them. They were really friendly with us, listened to what we had to say, and I think we as riders should thank them today for meeting us somewhere."
Safety in professional cycling has been a major discussion point over the years, but when asked why the riders hadn't looked at the course in the months leading up to the race and expressed their concerns in advance, Vingegaard said, he felt the responsibility of rider safety rests with the UCI, race organisers, rider associations and the athletes themselves.
"I don't think it's our responsibility as riders. I think it's more the responsibility of the UCI and the organisation to make routes. We have our CPA group. It should be a mix of everyone," he said.
"I think that safety in cycling is in everyone's interest. Not only in the riders but in the UCI. We can't just point fingers at each other; everyone has a responsibility, and obviously, we as riders ourselves."
The time of the general classification was therefore taken at the start of the last lap of the race. A four-rider breakaway narrowly succeeded at the finish line with Fredrik Dversnes Lavik (Uno-X Mobility) taking the victory ahead of Mirco Maestri (Team Polti VisitMalta), Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), and Mattia Bais (Team Polti VisitMalta).
Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) won the bunch sprint for fifth place, crossing the line 57 seconds later.
Despite the neutralisation, Vingegaard said that racing onto the city streets of Milan wearing the maglia rosa for the first time in his career was a special moment.
"Obviously, it's been a dream coming true for me. Today, riding into Milano, it was special to ride in the pink jersey. As I said yesterday, it is one of the most special jerseys in cycling, so to have that going into such a big city is something special for me," he said.
The peloton will take a much-deserved rest day on Monday before kicking off the final week of racing, which includes a back-to-back grand climbing finale on stage 19 at Alleghe (Piani di Pezzè) and stage 20 at Piancavallo.
"I felt pretty good today. I was having a good day out there. It was very warm again today, but we managed to get through the day well."
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