Protest at the Tour of Lombardy: Things need to change – and they need to change now!

​Before the start of the Tour of Lombardy, the peloton refused to set off for five minutes in protest. The riders are calling for improved safety and have criticised the fact that unauthorised vehicles continue to gain access to the route.

​At the start of the season’s final Monument, the peloton initially came to a standstill in Bergamo. For five minutes, the riders did not start the race; Remco Evenepoel was handed a microphone. “We want to address this issue because there are too many incidents involving vehicles during the race. Sadly, we have lost a brother and colleague of ours. We want to show the world that we can no longer accept riders being injured or literally dying whilst doing what we love most,” said the hot favourite. After the five-minute protest, the riders finally set off.

Pidcock’s criticism of the organisers

Even before the race, Tom Pidcock had taken to Instagram to criticise the fact that unauthorised vehicles continue to regularly enter race courses. And this is happening in a year in which a young up-and-coming rider lost his life in such an accident.

Pidcock is calling on the organisers to take responsibility. He has been affected himself: at the Tre Valli Varesine this week, two of his team-mates were struck by a police motorbike travelling in the opposite direction to the race. Pidcock said afterwards that he would have liked nothing more than to stop the race.

The Death of Finlay Tarling

The young rider to whom Evenepoel and Pidcock are referring is Finlay Tarling. The 19-year-old Briton from the NSN Development Team died on 14 August during the eighth stage of the Volta a Portugal. According to reports, he collided head-on with a vehicle that was not part of the race and was also travelling in the opposite direction. Tarling was the younger brother of Netcompany-Ineos professional Josh Tarling. The investigation into this case is still ongoing.

Protest against a series of incidents

This is not the only incident. At the Giro dell’Emilia last Saturday, a car drove onto the final descent, forcing the riders to swerve out of the way. At the Coppa Bernocchi, a vehicle veered onto the course during the live broadcast. Then, at the Tre Valli Varesine, there was a collision with a police motorbike: Marcel Camprubí and Thomas Gloag were hit, and Gloag was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

The Tour of Lombardy itself is no stranger to controversy either. In 2025, Evenepoel was severely hampered here at Colle Aperto by two escort motorbikes. Back in February, he had already criticised the UCI for allowing too many vehicles onto the course. The protest is therefore by no means limited to a single incident.

The demand of the protest

The federation has promised improvements. UCI President David Lappartient has described safety as “non-negotiable” and stated that this issue should be prioritised over other reforms. However, even following the tragic death of the young British rider, there is no sign of any change to safety measures. The riders are no longer willing to wait and are now demanding action.

Following the Tour of Lombardy and the Tour of Guangxi, the professional road cyclists are now heading into the winter break. The UCI therefore has plenty of time to investigate the cases and take appropriate action. Whether the situation will change and whether the UCI takes the protest seriously will need to be closely monitored over the coming season. Because one thing is clear: the health of everyone involved in the races should be the top priority.