Why did Jonas Vingegaard want Giro d'Italia Stage 15 neutralised? Visma boss explains how rails, props and fences made Milan finish ‘too dangerous'
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Published 24/05/2026 at 18:47 GMT+1
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Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Marc Reef said fears over rails, props and fences on ”dangerous” parcours led to Jonas Vingegaard wanting a neutralisation of Stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia.
Fences, props, rails - Visma boss Reef explains 'dangerous' Stage 15 conditions
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Dane, wearing the maglia rosa, could be heard complaining to race organisers with 41km to go that he had ”almost crashed” in a Milan finale he called ”dangerous.”
The decision was subsequently made with two laps to go to neutralise the general classification at the bell for the final lap, with Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) among other riders to flag concerns.
Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) went on to claim a stunning win from the breakaway as a surprise quartet held off the sprint teams in a thrilling conclusion to what many had expected to be a reasonably uneventful day for a bunch sprint.
Speaking afterwards, Vingegaard was grateful that his concerns had been heard.
”Maybe today was not the most safe roads, so to speak, but we tried to speak with the organisation and they really listened to us, so I want to thank them for listening to what we had to say today,” he said.
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'Not the most safe roads' - Vingegaard explains concerns that led to Stage 15 GC neutralisation
Video credit: TNT Sports
Reef, speaking to TNT Sports after the race, gave more detail about the circumstances leading to the neutralisation.
The course allowed the peloton and teams to get a feel for the finish as they did four laps of a 16km circuit around Milan and the Visma boss explained that concerns were quickly raised.
”The riders, especially in the bunch, thought the lap was too dangerous,” he said. ”There were fences placed on the road, props on the cobbled sections, the rails were quite high.
”There were some places and spots in the parcours that were quite dangerous, especially with the high speed on the lap.
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”Ganna went once to the car, Jonas went to the car and also Ciccone. They felt responsible, in the end the stewards listened and we’re grateful.”
Asked why concerns had not been raised before the race started, Reef said: ”You know there are some cobble lines in the road, you know the rails are on the road but how they place the fences and how the drops were on the parcours, you can’t see that on the information that you get up front.
”I think that is also something you then need to be flexible about and I think that’s what they did. The riders spoke about their concerns on the bike because they needed to do it and then the decision was there.”
Asked if the decision had been made early enough, he replied: ”I think it was already with three laps to go. After one lap there came already a change, then half a lap later, it was [changed] again. It was clear enough, the decision was there, so we are happy about that.”
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