Today's stage shortened, criticism of the attitude of the riders
An unlucky Giro d'Italia 2023. The bad weather conditions and the many withdrawals (from Evenepoel onwards) are affecting the race which will arrive in Rome next Sunday. Added to this is the absence of a show during the few uphill stages disputed so far.
Today the most difficult moment has been reached: the stage with arrival in Crans Montana was shortened by over 100 km with a decision arrived a few minutes before the official start, after long discussions between riders, teams and organizers. Not everyone agreed, at least verbally. The weather, however, wasn't all that 'impossible': it was even sunny at the finish line.
One of the strongest positions was that of Gianni Moscon who, interviewed by Rai, declared: "If the stage had been left as it was, those who wanted to continue continued and those who wanted to stop were free to do so. The doctor to ride a bike, if we don't like it we can also change jobs".
At the end of the race, the pink jersey, Geraint Thomas, also spoke: "Right decision to cut the stage? The important thing is that the riders remained united. Difficult when you see the weather the night before and you can't know for sure how things will go , but I think that in the end even the short and intense stages can be interesting. Even if in the end today the head wind blocked us, I think. In hindsight we could have raced, but starting with that cold and wet, when you have to exceeding the 2,000 mark, and already many sick people is certainly not ideal. So I think it was the right decision".
