It’s been a rough week for team BMC. First, Taylor Phinney severely broke his leg after a nasty crash while descending Lookout Mountain at the USA Cycling professional road championships. Then, Cadel Evans fought through a “day of survival” during stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia. Even after the end of the brutal stage Evans remained upbeat, quoted as saying, “We have all worked very, very hard. I think we have seen in the last couple of days that anything and everything has happened in this Giro. And anything can still happen. That is what makes the Giro so dramatic.”
However, the president and general manager of the BMC Racing Team, Jim Ochowicz, wasn’t so happy about the conditions and has issued an official statement about the stage – which saw only 15 riders within 10 minutes of the stage winner’s time, while 122 of 160 riders finished a full half hour behind or more.
Statement after the break…
From BMC Racing Team:
Tuesday’s stage of the Giro d’Italia was a complete travesty, as teams were given an official communication at the top of Stelvio Pass that the race would be controlled for safety reasons on the downhill due to road safety and other factors.
All but two teams respected this official communication. The UCI and the race organization have a responsibility to see that the rules are respected. In addition to disrespecting the race instructions regarding race neutrality, several teams pre-determined that they alone would be allowed to have more than the designated two follow cars in the peloton, which showed complete disrespect for the other 20 teams in the race.
We take no position against the three riders that rode together to the finish. However, the UCI and race organizer RCS have a responsibility to maintain fair racing conditions, which we believe did not take place. We also believe that teams which disregarded the caravan follow car rules acted in an unsportsmanlike and totally unacceptable manner.
Respectfully,
Jim Ochowicz
President/General Manager, BMC Racing Team
