Pro Riders and Fans Slam Giro Best Descenders Prize
The 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia includes a best descender prize
The Giro d'Italia is famous for it's four leaders jersey's the Pink, for the overall, Red for the points, Blue for the points and White for the best young rider. There are also some other prizes including; the Breakaway Prize, the Intermediate Sprint prize, the Fighting Spirit prize plus three separate, distinct team prizes Super Team, the Winning Team and the Fairplay Team
The Giro d'Italia organizers have added an additional prize, sponsored by Pirelli, an Italian Chinese owned tyre company.
The Best Descender Prize, a special classification awarding the best descender of the 100th Giro d’Italia. Unveiled from the rule book, times will be recorded along the following downhill stretches:
Stage 8: Monte Sant’Angelo
Stage 9: Chieti
Stage 11: Monte Fumaiolo
Stage 12: Colla di Cassaglia
Stage 15: Selvino
Stage 16: Passo dello Stelvio
Stage 17: Passo del Tonale
Stage 18: Passo Pordoi
Stage 19: Sella Chianzutan
Stage 20: Monte Grappa
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th fastest riders covering the timed downhill stretches above will be awarded with 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1 points, respectively. For each timed downhill stretch, the fastest rider will be awarded with a prize of €500.
At the end of the Giro, the general classification will be issued, based on the sum of the points achieved by each rider, and the following prizes will be awarded: 1st €5,000; 2nd €3,000; 3rd €2,000 - not a huge sum of money compared to the other prizes.
However, the Pro Peloton have reacted in anger on social media, citing safety fears and not being consulted in the run up to the race which starts this Friday May 5th. This comes just after the tragic death of Chad Young on the Tour of the Gilla. He suffered severe head injuries in a high-speed mountain descent and was life-flighted to a hospital in Tucson, Arizona.
Worst Downhill Giro Crashes
In 2015, an Italian cyclist had to be taken to hospital lafter a horrific accident saw him come off of his bike during the third stage of Italy’s biggest cycling race the Giro D’Italia. Dominic Pozzovivo says he can “remember nothing” of the incident that saw him lose control while on a high-speed descent on the unforgiving 136km stage. Paramedics were rushed to the scene to treat the unconscious Pozzovivo as he lay motionless on the tarmac.
In 2011, Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt died following a crash while racing on the Giro d’Italia’s following a fatal crash. Belgian sprinter Wouter Weylandt died of injuries caused by a heavy crash on the descent from the Passo del Bocco, the main climb in the third stage of the race, from Reggio Emilia to Rapallo. Weylandt fell heavily on the twisting, steep descent 35km from the finish, with one version of events stating he had hit a wall. He appeared to have landed heavily on his face, causing severe bleeding.
Riders and Fans React
Surely a joke even though I might actually be able to win something if I did Giro. Problem is you'll have to overtake on descents.Ridiculous https://t.co/r9cqCcstpN
— Koen de Kort (@koendekort) May 1, 2017
.@giroditalia seriously?! If this true you should be ashamed.. aren't there already enough crashes? Clearly you only care about sensation.. https://t.co/uWnIyhSil7
— Jasper Stuyven (@Jasperstuyven) May 1, 2017
As a fan of cycling, i am not in favour of 'descending' prize #Giro100
— lesley ???? (@9lives2) May 2, 2017
Life threatening idea to give a prize to the best descender in Giro? I hope this is a joke? What about safety?@UCI_cycling @cpacycling https://t.co/Blkw8Zk6br
— Wout Poels (@WoutPoels) May 1, 2017
No response from teams yet? Don't they care about their riders safety? @AigcpOfficial pic.twitter.com/EInPvqpR5b
— Reinier Honig (@ReinierHonig) May 2, 2017
How incredibly stupid. We've already lost riders to high speed crashes on descents (Chad Young, Wouter Weylandt). Why reward risk taking? https://t.co/NWCrxxfLZG
— Lindsay Bayer (@thedirtfield) May 1, 2017
In related news, Band-Aid brand will be sponsoring the new "most spectacular crash" classification. Seriously, who came up with this shit? https://t.co/WaUHTACF33
— Joe Dombrowski (@JoeDombro) May 1, 2017
In the 2016 Giro d'Italia, Ilnur Zakarin from Katusha, crashed on Stage 19 and left in an ambulance after a serious crash, Zakarin, who was sitting in fifth overall, crashed out in the dramatic 162km stage from Pinerolo to Risoul, two days before the Giro ended in Turin. The 26-year-old Katusha rider came off in a turn on the long descent off the Coll dell'Agnello.
He was sitting four minutes and 50 seconds behind Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), who later crashed on the same descent and lost his pink leader’s jersey. While Kruijswick managed to complete the stage with a fractured rib, he lost the Giro to Nibali.
