Riders, including Giro d'Italia race leaders Richard Kalapas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Kazakstan), have been left in limbo after their team was suspended following the Russian invasion of Ukraine In support of the Gazprom Rusvelo riders and staff, the "Why?"

Gazprom Rusvelo team was suspended on March 1 as part of a ban that includes all teams flying the Russian or Belarusian flags at the start of Stage 16 of the race. Russian riders on other teams are allowed to race, and Igor Makarov remains a member of the UCI Management Committee despite being sanctioned by the Canadian government.

Gazprom-RusVelo was registered in Switzerland and based in Italy, with sponsorship from the German company Gazprom. After losing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the team was shut down and everyone was left without a paycheck; the UCI did little to help the athletes or staff, only carefully following the political line of the International Olympic Committee.

Most athletes have been unable to find new teams because of the UCI's restrictions on team size. The international governing body appears to be refusing to lift the restrictions for fear of affecting their fight to avoid relegation from the World Tour.

"There are 53 families involved in this case. A total of 164, most of them European, and they discovered overnight, for no logical reason, that they have no job, no salary, no present and no future in cycling," the CPA riders' association said in a statement when announcing the wristband protest.

"Since this issue came to light, we have tried everything to facilitate a dialogue with the UCI and the teams to find a solution, but unfortunately without success. It was impossible to allow the riders to continue racing in the neutral jersey or to give them the opportunity to move to another team as we requested," said CPA president Gianni Bugno.

"Like all of us, the 21 players involved in this are absolutely against the war and irrelevant, but they are paying the consequences directly.

"The group [the peloton] is united in its support for peace. In the Giro d'Italia, as in every other race, riders of all nationalities stand shoulder to shoulder and challenge each other with respect and loyalty. Sport is non-political and must remain fair. Sport should unite, not divide. Nevertheless, athletes' right to work is being denied for no reason, and as an association we feel we must defend it."

Marco Canora and Cristian Scaroni spoke at the CPA presentation in Salo, and Buño said that riders' protest and strikes are not the best way to push for a solution, he argued.

"These wristbands won't help solve the problem, but they will help people understand what we are going through," Canora said.

"I don't understand why my colleagues shouldn't wear them. It's not a brand and it doesn't hurt our sponsors. This situation is unsustainable. There are two of us here and the others are at home, desperate and out of shape."

"It is unfair that we pay the price for something that is not our fault. We demand answers from the UCI, but the answers we have received so far have been very vague. We have tried the diplomatic route, but to no avail. If they are the leaders of cycling, they do not deserve to govern our beautiful sport.