Organizers of the Giro d'Italia told Cycling News Wednesday morning that they were considering changes to the post-stage podium ceremony after Biniam Girmay was forced to abandon the race after damaging his left eye with a flying cork.

The change was then implemented after the sprint finish of stage 11, when the sparkling wine corks on the podium were uncorked beforehand to avoid a recurrence of the accident.

Gil May made history by winning stage 10 in Jessie, becoming the first black African-American to win a stage in a Grand Tour, but minutes later, as he leaned over to pick up a magnum of Italian Spumante to celebrate on the podium, the cork burst from the bottle and hit his s eye. He suffered a hemorrhage in the anterior chamber of his left eye and did not start stage 11.

Celebrating with champagne or spumante has long been a tradition in bicycle racing and other sporting events, but Gilmey's injury led to widespread calls for the moment of celebration to be abolished or at least protected for the riders. [Giro d'Italia director Mauro Veni told Cycling News before Wednesday's stage to Reggio Emilia.

"Injuries like that haven't happened in years.

"Mathieu van Pol experienced something similar in Hungary, but that was when he shook the bottle. Biniam Girmay was quite emotional after his win and everyone could see that he was trying to celebrate his stage win. He tipped the bottle and the cork popped at exactly the same time.

"We look at ways to improve things and make them safer without affecting the moment of rider joy on the podium, the sponsors, or the sport.

These improvements were immediate. After the finish of stage 11, the winner, Alberto Dainese, went up to the podium and held a magnum bottle of Spumante.

He did not need to open the metal case; all he had to do was pull the cork from the bottle. Naturally, he carefully ran his thumb over the cork before lifting it up and shooting it into the air.

A short time later, race leader Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) appeared on the podium to award the pink jersey. His bottle did not even have a cork in it and was already fully opened, requiring a good shake to get it fizzing.

He made a series of near-misses in this Giro and left the race after crashing into Gil May shortly after his historic accomplishment.

As Veni pointed out, Van der Pol himself stuck a cork in his shoulder after beating Girmay to victory on the first day. After his rival's accident, he suggested that the Dutchman should take action.

"I saw it after it was over. The same thing happened on the first day, but luckily I didn't see it," van der Pol said.

"The corks come off so easily that I guess the organization has to do something like pull the corks out a little more. It's a little bit risky. That's not the way to leave the Giro," he said.