Giro d’Italia ‘shambles’ as riders boycott new route after severe snowfall

Riders and teams hit out at a “shambles” of a day at the Giro d’Italia, with Australia’s Ben O’Connor labelling the race organisers “dinosaurs” after the planned start to stage 16 in Livigno was boycotted by riders amid heavy snow, leading to chaos and confusion.

The stage did eventually get under way after a three-hour delay, albeit the route was shortened to 120km and the Umbrail Pass taken out.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) eventually took his fifth stage win of the race to extend his lead in the general classification to 7min 18sec.

Britain’s Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) “grovelled up” up the final climb to the ski resort of Val Gardena, falling from second to third overall, 22 seconds behind Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe).

The big story of the day, though, was the chaotic start in Livigno, a ski resort at over 1,800m altitude.

Organisers RCS had expected the peloton to roll out of Livigno and ride neutralised through the Munt la Schera tunnel. Indeed they said in a statement that that had been agreed by all parties with a “handshake”.

But the CPA, the riders’ union, claimed they would have got cold and wet before the transfer to the new start point, saying it would have been “a s--- show”.

‘Significant health risks’

“Riders aim to compete and entertain, not to face a situation where they must stop at an altitude of 2,498 meters in a car park, change clothes in two-degree weather with a high likelihood of snow, and then continue racing,” it said in a letter which was shared on social media.

“Such conditions pose significant health risks, particularly during the descent of the Umbrail Pass. It is 2024; stopping and restarting races in such conditions is unacceptable. As one DS (sporting director) put it, ‘this will be a s--- show.’”

O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) later criticised Giro race director Mauro Vegni, telling Eurosport Discovery: “It’s probably one of the worst organised races I think and I’m just being honest. This would never happen in 99 per cent of other situations.

“I’d like to see [Vegni] in our position, go outside on the bike and do the start of the stage and see what his answer is after those couple of hours.

“I wish he could experience it because then he would have a bit of a sense of what it’s actually really like rather than turning on the climate in his car and saying this is great for people to watch.”

Team Ineos sporting director Zak Dempster told Eurosport Discovery that the riders had never “shaken hands” on the start in Livigno, describing the day as “a bit of a shambles”.

Pogacar ended a day of havoc in familiar fashion as he powered to victory, making light of torrential rain to ride away from his rivals on the summit finish at the ski resort of Val Gardena. Barring injury or misfortune in the next few days, the Slovenian looks assured of reaching Rome with the maglia rosa on his back.

As he crossed the line he held up his hand to count off his stage wins. Giulio Pellizzari, the last of a breakaway group to keep Pogacar at bay.

Thomas, 37, admitted he had suffered. “I just didn’t feel like I had anything today and that last climb was just a big grovel to the top basically,” reflected Thomas in his immediate post-stage interview with Cycling Pro Net. “I’m still in there I guess. So tomorrow is another day.”