This Friday's stage of the Giro d'Italia had to be shortened by about 150 kilometers after the sit-in of many of the cyclists, who have refused to travel the 258 kilometers scheduled between the towns of Morbegno and Asti.

The harsh weather complications, with rain forecast for the whole day and very cold, have led to the cut-off of the third to last stage of this decision, a completely flat transition day.

According to

La Gazzetta dello Sport

, the Ag2r and Lotto-Soudal teams are the ones that have pushed the most for the organization to make this decision.

Two teams with no aspirations in the general classification or clear options for the foreseeable 'sprint' in Asti.

Two teams, in short, which no longer have much to do in this Giro.

Nothing seems casual.

Ineos and Bora, apparently, wanted to complete the tour.

"Have you ever done three consecutive stages of more than six hours, with more than 4,000 meters of accumulated unevenness and then you thought it was a good idea to chain another six-hour stage with freezing rain?",

Larry Warbasse

, cyclist of Ag2r, in their social networks, in one of the first reactions of the peloton.

No consensus

The riders have complied with the start protocol, starting from Morbegno at the scheduled time, but after 11 kilometers they have landed to force the cut of the stage.

After discussing the situation with the organization, the Giro was forced to give in to the team of cyclists, although not all teams agreed with the measure.

It was a day of transition, completely flat.

According to RAI, the channel that produces the race's television signal, the race will restart in Vigevano, causing the stage to be reduced to about 100 kilometers, a ridiculous distance for a great three-week lap.

A decision that causes significant damage to the organization, since the towns through which a race like the Giro passes pay for it and also because it forces all the television operators in the world that broadcast the races to reorganize their programming on the fly.

This is the latest of many difficulties this exceptional Giro has had to face.

The Covid positives of

Simon Yates

,

Steven Kruijswijk

and

Michael Matthews

(the latter, a false positive) put the race in check, although they were able to continue with it.

This same week, the organization had to reformulate the stage of Saturday before the veto of France to authorize the passage of the race through its territory.

And on Thursday,

Matteo Spreafico

(Vini Zabu) dropped out of the race after two "abnormal" doping test results for an anabolic.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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