Mountain stage in Giro further shortened due to bad weather conditions

May 19, 2023 at 10:58 Update: 5 minutes ago

The thirteenth stage in the Giro d’Italia was shortened even further on Friday due to bad weather conditions. The peloton now only covers 79 kilometers.

This week it was already decided that the Great Sint-Bernhard Pass would be removed from the course. The road along the initially highest point of this Giro (2,469 meters) is insufficiently passable due to heavy snowfall.

Now the mountain stage has been shortened even further, because it is raining hard. The stage now starts at the foot of the Croix de Cœur, at 80 kilometers from the finish. The peloton would actually start in Borgofranco d’Ivrea.

The thirteenth stage now only starts at 2.30 p.m. The finish is in the ski village of Crans Montana, after a 13.1 kilometer climb with an average gradient of 7.2 percent.

Geraint Thomas starts the shortened mountain stage as the leader in the general classification. The Brit from INEOS Grenadiers defends a lead of two seconds over Jumbo-Visma leader Primoz Roglic.

Mads Pedersen will no longer start on Friday. The Dane from Trek-Segafredo, who won the sixth stage last week, is not fit enough to continue the Giro due to a sore throat.

Photo: Twitter/Giro d’Italia