Riders at the Giro di Lombardia staged a brief protest on Saturday, delaying the start of the race by five minutes to draw attention to safety concerns following a series of incidents involving non-race vehicles.

After organisers completed the countdown for the start, the peloton remained stationary, creating a moment of confusion before Remco Evenepoel addressed the crowd. “There’s too many incidents happening with vehicles in the race,” said Belgium’s double Olympic champion.

“Unfortunately we lost the life of a brother and of a colleague of us, so we want to make this statement to show to the world that we cannot keep accepting the fact that guys are getting injured or literally dying in what we like the most to do.”

Evenepoel was referring to the death of British cyclist Finlay Tarling, the younger brother of Netcompany Ineos rider Josh Tarling, who died following a collision with a vehicle during the Tour of Portugal on August 14.

Earlier this week, Thomas Gloag and Marcel Camprubi were struck by a police motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction during the Tre Valli Varesine.

“This week alone, there were multiple incidents of vehicles on race courses,” read a statement from the CPA union which represents professional cyclists. “This summer, a life was tragically lost to exactly this kind of failure. We will not stand for this any longer.

“Riders race at high speed with little protection, and we depend on [cycling’s governing body] the UCI and race organisers to secure the roads. That responsibility is not being met.”

The CPA called on the UCI to help ensure race organisers “take responsibility” and “act” to improve safety standards. After five minutes, the riders set off as scheduled for the race to Como.

“We did not want to affect the race, only to show what riders can do when we stand as one,” the statement added. “We love this sport. We respect the race organisers. We want to race hard and put on a show for our fans. However most importantly we want to come home safe to our loved ones.”

This report will update