Elia Viviani gesticulated his protest against Alexander Kristoff's sprinting tactics in perfect Italian style at the UEC Road European Championship elite men's race, using his hand to ask if the Norwegian's tactics were correct and then wagging his finger to show his disapproval.
However, after the race officials watch several replays of the sprint and declared Kristoff the winner, Viviani could only climb on the podium, sportingly accept defeat and collect the silver medal for second place.
"I'm really disappointed to lose the European championship by less than the width of a tubular," Viviani said, praising his Italian teammates for the hard work they did to set him up and regretting his decision to stay along the barriers so close to Kristoff.
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"The guys did a perfect job, they did as we planned," he said. "Two or three guys closed the gap (after the split) in one lap and a half, we stayed together and we had really good legs today."
"The sprint was fast, and [Fabio] Sabatini did be a good job to give me the space on the right. When I saw they came around, I went for it. Initially, I thought there was enough space to go on the right, and I couldn't change my choice. I touched (Kristoff) with 50 metres to go but it was too late. It was really close…"
Viviani has taken a number of second places this season but was the designated team leader for Italy for the European Championships. Team Sky opted not to select him for the Giro d'Italia and so Viviani used some summer Six Days on the track in Italy and the Tour of Austria to find his form.
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