Lorena Wiebes was disqualified from the women’s Giro d’Italia for a bike weight violation, just hours after winning the opening stage.
The Dutchwoman, riding for Team SD Worx-Protime, had sealed the first maglia rosa – the leader’s pink jersey – of this year’s race by pipping Italian Elisa Balsamo and Irish rider Lara Gillespie to the finish line in Ravenna.
But in a statement on Saturday night, race organisers said 27-year-old Wiebes, who won the Giro points classification in 2025, had been kicked out of the race for “use of a bicycle not in compliance with the regulations, specifically failing to meet the minimum weight requirements”.
Lidl-Trek’s Balsamo was awarded the stage win and will start Sunday’s second stage in the maglia rosa.
Canyon-Sram rider Chiara Consonni was bumped up on to the podium behind Gillespie.
Balsamo said: “Of course, it is not the way I want to win but this is a decision of the jury.
“In any case, it’s an honour to wear the maglia rosa and I am looking forward to trying to defend it in tomorrow’s stage.”
The 139km opening stage from Cesenatico, which ended with three laps of a 13.2km city circuit, featured multiple crashes.
Those included one after just 35km, as a result of which Movistar’s British rider Cat Ferguson was forced to abandon the race.
Her team later said the 20-year-old, making her Giro debut, had been taken to hospital for medical evaluation.
Sunday’s second stage – 156km between Roncade and Caorle – will again suit the sprinters.