Lorena Wiebes was disqualified from the women's Giro d'Italia on Saturday following a bike weight violation-just hours after she won the opening stage and claimed the leader's pink jersey.
The Dutch sprinter, riding for SD Worx-Protime, was handed the rare penalty after race officials determined her bike failed to meet minimum weight requirements under UCI regulations.
As a result, second-place finisher Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek was awarded the stage win and the maglia rosa.
In a statement, SD Worx-Protime called the disqualification "exceptionally severe," noting Wiebes had raced the same bike setup multiple times this season without issue, including several wins. The team added that UCI officials had previously weighed the bike after several races this year-each time finding it comfortably above the 6.8-kilogram minimum.
"The team therefore does not understand how the very same bicycle could now suddenly be measured below the minimum weight requirement," the statement read.