Enrico Zanoncello Giro D'italia Disqualification Follows Stage 15 Headbutt
Enrico Zanoncello Giro D'italia disqualification followed a Stage 15 sprint incident in Milan after footage showed him appearing to headbutt Bob Donaldson. The Bardiani-CSF-7 Saber sprinter was removed from the race after the jury reviewed the move from Sunday’s 156km stage between Voghera and Milan.
He also drew a 500 Swiss Franc fine, lost 13 points in the points classification and received a yellow card. Donaldson hit the deck in the bunch sprint for fifth, then later wrote in a since-deleted Instagram story that he was “fine, sort of.”
Milan sprint verdict
The stage itself went to Uno-X’s Fredrik Dversnes, who won from a four-man breakaway that held off the peloton. The sprint for fifth became the flashpoint when footage showed Zanoncello being pushed to the right by Groupama-FDJ rider Paul Penhoët, forcing him to lean into Donaldson.
The race jury said the move was a “deviation from the chosen line that endangers another rider (blow from the head),” and acted on that review after the finish. Under the UCI disciplinary rules introduced in 2025, two yellow cards in a single race normally trigger disqualification and a seven-day ban, which gives the decision more weight than a simple sprint sanction.
Bob Donaldson’s race status
Jayco AlUla said Monday morning that Donaldson would be able to start the race’s final week. That left the immediate damage to the result sheet and the disciplinary record rather than to his place in the race.
The Milan finish came after rider safety protests and accusations of motorbike drafting had already put the stage under a harsher spotlight. The general classification times were neutralised at the 15km mark, but the closing sprint still produced the kind of incident the riders had already warned about. Zanoncello now leaves Stage 15 with the race jury’s decision, while Donaldson moves on to the final week.
