Colombian Fernando Gaviria was awarded stage three of the Giro d’Italia after Elia Viviani was stripped of the win in controversial circumstances.
The Italian national champion edged out Gaviria in the sprint for the line, only for race organisers to demote the 30-year-old after reviewing footage immediately after the stage.
Viviani was adjudged to have swerved in front of Gaviria, who was then declared the winner, while France’s Arnaud Demare moved up to second and Pascal Ackermann, winner of stage two, took third.
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The decision was controversial to say the least with Viviani’s team manager Patrick Lefevere later tweeting: “What a ridiculous decision UCI jury.” Even Gaviria refused to celebrate the win on the podium and was then quoted as saying: “Elia is always fair, it is hard to celebrate.
When he moved to the left, he did it without bad intention. “To me he is the clear winner of today’s stage. I feel bad for him.” Meanwhile, it was also a bad day for Team Ineos leader Tao Geoghegan Hart, who lost 88 seconds after being stuck behind a crash in the last five kilometres of the stage.
Primoz Roglic keeps the overall lead heading into stage four, leading Simon Yates by 19 seconds.
