Statement from Team SD Worx–Protime regarding the disqualification of Lorena Wiebes

Team SD Worx – Protime is astonished by the decision of the UCI commissaires' panel that Lorena Wiebes' bicycle did not comply with the minimum weight limit after the first stage of the Giro d'Italia Women, in accordance with UCI Article 2.12.007–2.2. According to the jury, the bicycle weighed 6.78 kilograms and therefore did not meet the UCI's minimum weight requirement of 6.8 kilograms.

The team has serious questions about the bicycle-weighting procedures at the Giro d'Italia Women. For example, there was a weight difference of more than 50 grams between the first and second weighing of Wiebes' bicycle after the finish of the stage in Ravenna. 

Wiebes has ridden this bicycle on multiple occasions this season, always with the same setup. She achieved numerous victories on this bike. Moreover, earlier this year, the bicycle was weighed by UCI officials after several races in which Wiebes won sprint finishes convincingly. On each occasion, the bicycle's weight was found to be comfortably above the 6.8-kilogram limit. The team therefore does not understand how the very same bicycle could now suddenly be measured below the minimum weight requirement.

Team SD Worx – Protime believes that Wiebes' disqualification is an exceptionally severe sanction. In a flat sprint stage, unlike a mountain stage, a small reduction in weight provides virtually no advantage. This is certainly true for a rider like Wiebes, who won the sprint in Ravenna by three bicycle lengths.
Team SD Worx – Protime, a leading team in the women's peloton for the past fifteen years, has no explanation for why Wiebes' bicycle was found to be under the minimum weight on this occasion.