BORA-hansgrohe team leader shocked by Buchmann's complaints: "We did not guarantee him co-leadership in the Giro"

Emanuel Buchmann is anything but happy. On Monday afternoon, BORA-hansgrohe announced its selection for the Giro d'Italia, and Buchmann's name was not on the list. The German is not happy about it...

"I cannot describe my disappointment and frustration in not being selected for the Giro d'Italia," he shared on Instagram. "For months, I prepared and planned everything towards the Giro. BORA-hansgrohe even promised me co-leadership for the GC. I am in form, and the training went well."

"The last three weeks at Teide, I wanted to make the final preparations, but sixteen days before the start of the Giro, I got the call that I won't be in the lineup," the German champion expressed his disbelief. To be continued, one might say.

Buchmann deeply disappointed in BORA-hansgrohe, his wife also speaks out

And indeed, the story did continue. Buchmann's wife, Claudia Eder, also got involved. On her X-account, we saw several replies appear under certain tweets. In these replies, she stated that her husband was indeed in very good shape (at Teide), that Buchmann had always been on the Giro-longlist, and that no one seems to understand this decision (except for the team management).

A day later, Buchmann was presented with a new race: Eschborn-Frankfurt. Alongside compatriot Maximilian Schachmann, Austrian Marco Haller, Colombian Sergio Higuita, Spaniard Roger Adria, Pole Cesare Benedetti and Dane Frederik Wandahl, he will try to get over his Giro disappointment as quickly as possible.

BORA sport director Gasparotto taken aback by Buchmann's remarks regarding Giro co-leadership

BORA also gave an explanation for Buchmann's omission from the list when talking to the German branch of Eurosport. "Our strategy for the Giro was completely shaken up during the last four weeks," he said. "A month ago, it was clear that we would travel to Turin with Daniel Martinez as the leader and Lennard Kämna as co-leader. The rest of our team was solely focused on supporting them in the mountains. After the serious accident involving Kämna, we were forced to reorganize ourselves. We now have only one leader for the classification (Martinez, ed.) and several versatile riders as backups, who will themselves look for opportunities in hilly terrain."

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Talking to Sporza, team manager Gasparotto came up with a new statement. The two-time winner of the Amstel Gold Race understands his rider's disappointing reaction, but: "I was quite surprised to read that we had promised him co-leadership. That's news to our ears. It's not true. His reaction means he really wanted to be in the Giro. We need riders who are committed. I called Buchmann and explained that due to Kämna's dropout, we adjusted our strategy. As a team, we wanted to go to the Giro with versatile riders who can win from a breakaway. That was the reason why we brought Jonas Koch into the Giro selection. He can climb and is fast enough to win a sprint from a smaller peloton."

The Swiss team manager also experienced something similar himself. "In 2018, I was third in the Amstel and sixth in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. My team Bahrain Merida decided to remove me from the Giro selection one week before the race. Back then, I was also disappointed, but if a team's strategy changes due to certain events that have occurred in the past months, then the riders must understand and accept that."