Riders have unanimously agreed not to participate in Tuesday's stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia unless the course is changed to remove the Umbrail Pass from the route on a day where the climb and following descent is forecast to have snow and freezing rain combined with extreme temperatures.
On Monday race organisers RCS Sport, the UCI race commissaries, and team rider’s association representatives held a meeting to decide on how to protect the rider’s health without overly disrupting the race and then in the afternoon RCS Sport announced the stage would go on as planned 'if weather conditions are deemed normal'.
The plan, said organisers, was to allow extra team vehicles in the race convoy with race commissaire cars also able to hand out clothing plus a special ‘parking zone’ would be created at the summit of the Umbrail Pass, where the stage could be neutralised for three minutes to allow riders to change clothing.
