It was four hours behind the originally planned schedule that the peloton set off towards Crans Montana, Switzerland, where Colombian Einer Rubio won after only 74 km.

The episode was yet another jolt in a Giro that has been accumulating problems since the start on May 6.

While about forty riders, including the great favorite Remco Evenepoel, have already dropped out because of Covid-19 or other viruses, the weather has been particularly bad for ten days, with dramatic floods in northern Italy that have caused the death of at least 14 people.

On Friday morning, it was raining ropes again at the start, leading the organizers to postpone the time and location of the kick-off after "acceding to the request of the riders to apply the protocol on extreme weather conditions".

Instead of taking the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, which was to be the highest point of this Giro and which had already been planed because of too important a c, the riders, after a bus transfer, attacked directly by the formidable Croix-de-Cœur (15.4 km at 8.8%).

"A good decision"

The stage, which was supposed to be 199 km in its already shortened version, was now only 74 km, even if the final climb to Crans Montana (13.1 km at 7.2%) was maintained.

This decision was the result of a compromise between the RCS organizers and the riders, whose interests do not always converge. For RCS, it was a question of saving the stage, for the riders to preserve their health.

According to Adam Hansen, president of the riders' union, they voted by more than 90% on Thursday night, to shorten the stage. But not according to the route finally chosen.

The peloton wanted to keep the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, where the weather was indeed rather mild on Friday, and zap the Croix-de-Cœur and its descent made dangerous by a surface in poor condition.

Colombian Einer Rubio (Movistar) wins the 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia in Crans-Montana, May 19, 2023 © Luca Bettini / AFP

The Giro made a counter-proposal on Friday that the peloton finally accepted.

"It's a good decision if we want to arrive in Rome (May 28) with at least 50 riders," said the 176 at the start, said the pink jersey, the British Geraint Thomas.

Other riders were much less enthusiastic.

"The concern of the riders was mainly about the descent of the Croix-de-Coeur which is potentially dangerous. I don't understand this compromise," said Australian Jack Haig.

"Everyone is charred"

Some riders even disapproved of the decision to shorten the stage altogether, like the Italian Gianni Moscon: "Yes the weather is bad, yes we are tired. But the stage could be run and those who wanted to stop could do so. Nobody forces us to be a cyclist."

Mauro Vegni, the director of the Giro, who says "look at the sky every morning at the moment", defended a position of balance. "The Giro is in a special situation this year and we have to protect the athletes so that they arrive in Rome. That's why we wanted to respond a little to their requests while preserving the sporting nature of the stage," he said.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), leading the breakaway ahead of Ecuador's Jefferson Cepeda on the ascent to Crans-Montana, May 19, 2023 © Luca Bettini / AFP

The decision was not only based on the weather conditions of the day, but also on the general state of disrepair in which the peloton finds itself. On Friday, a 41st rider withdrew due to illness, the Dane Mads Pedersen, 2019 world champion.

"There's too much of everything. The rain, the cold, everyone is charred when we haven't even started the mountain," said French climber Thibaut Pinot, second in the stage.

© 2023 AFP