Lhe Giro riders have expressed their refusal to ride on the Col de l’Umbrail (16.7 km at 7.2%), the first difficulty of the 16th stage scheduled for Tuesday. They expressed their fears about dangerous weather conditions, through their union of Associated Professional Cyclists (CPA). A press release was published to this effect on X by the president of the CPA, Adam Hansen, in the morning. They finally won their case several hours later, the organizers having decided to review the route… even though the start should have already been given.
The CPA sent a letter to the director of the Tour of Italy, as well as to the race commissioners and the CEO of the International Cycling Union (UCI), to call for the modification of the stage route. The runners’ union fears a temperature close to zero and a very high risk of snow which “would directly affect the descent of almost 20 kilometers, in conditions of extreme cold”.
According to the union, this situation should be considered according to the protocol created for extreme weather situations (EWP), which provides for a modification of the route. A vote among the teams showed that all of them “did not want to make the descent in such conditions and wanted to start after the Col de l’Umbrail”.
While the fictitious start was to be given at 11:20 a.m. in Livigno, the Giro organizers finally decided to postpone the start of the stage to 2 p.m. in Spondigna. Instead of 200 km to cover, the peloton will do 121 this Tuesday.
