On Saturday, the Tirreno-Adriatico organisers chose to cancel Sunday’s mountainous stage due to weather forecasts predicting cold and rainy weather. This led to lamentations from Astana and Vincenzo Nibali. They even went as far as publishing a thinly veiled threat that the Italian rider might refrain from riding this year’s Giro d’Italia if there’s a risk of further cancellations as the Italian grand tour tackles higher mountains than the Tirreno-Adriatico race.

The harsh reactions from Astana and Nibali have provoked some even harsher responses from other riders on Twitter. Some of them certainly do not mince their words as reported by Biciciclismo.com. We bring you a few samples.

Several riders answered Nibali. The most vehement was Matthew Brammeier (Team Dimension Data): “You better stay home and skip the whole season, you short-minded, selfish idiot”.

“A little over the top now. As a group we should be united, to continue complaining does not help either us or the fans or the sport,” was Taylor Phinney’s reply to Nibali’s reaction.

BMC’s Tejay van Garderen, one of the beneficiaries of the cancellation ahead of the final time trial on Tuesday, was ironic in his message. “I would have loved to be able to ride. No one can control the weather. Thanks to the RCS and CPA for protecting us (especially from ourselves).”

Reigning world road race champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) also spoke in favour of the suspension. “I'm happy to see that the organisers have taken into consideration the safety of the riders. This is a positive step which I hope will continue.”