You might remember that the race organiser, Brunello Fanini, had asked the Italian Cycling Federation (the FCI) to discipline three of the Italian riders involved in leading the protest, Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec), Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle Honda) and Noemi Cantele (BePink), and was talking about taking them to court, accusing these riders of defamation and sabotage. And that the Italian Pro Cyclists' Association, the ACCPI, was supporting the riders who protested and submitting their own evidence to the FCI to demonstrate the protest was justified. Well, CyclingOnline.nl have reported the outcome of the FIC's investigation, and it's good news:
The riders who decided to quit the race in the Giro della Toscana, because the peloton was insufficiently protected, don't have to be afraid of a punishment by the Italian Federation FCI. Organiser Brunello Fanini had filed a complaint to the federal prosecutor of the FCI that they had sabotaged his race.
The FCI has now decided not to act that demand, formally because the evidence wasn't deemed well-founded, so the cause could not be put to trial. The Giro Toscana was fitting end to a chaotic season of women's road racing. Of the 137 starters only 49 crossed the finish-line in Firenze. GC leader Marianne Vos and Giorgia Bronzini - among others - decided not to start as for days on end riders were facing traffic because there weren't enough marshalls.
There's a very brief notice confirming this on the FIC's website.
Brunello Fanini had said that he hopes to put on the Giro Toscana in 2014 again, but it's still not on the UCI calendar. There's still not been a statement about why the race was given .HC status, the highest UCI category for a stage race, after the problems in the 2012 race that lead to the peloton neutralising the final stage, or the UCI commissaire's role in allowing the 2013 race to continue despite rider and team complaints throughout the race (for example, as ORICA-AIS DS Martin Barras described after Stage 2) but now the FCI's investigation is over, hopefully we'll see something from them soon.
All the Podium Café stories from the Giro Toscana are in the storystream, and if you see more, please do add it to the comments!
Big thanks to tgsgirl for translating from the Dutch.