We’re under way on stage 16 at the #Giro. Sport Director Zak Dempster talks us through the conditions and how the day has played out so far 🎥
"This morning it's just been a mess" - INEOS Grenadiers DS slams lack of clarity at Giro d'Italia
CyclingTuesday, 21 May 2024 at 16:00
In a somewhat embarrassing situation this morning ahead of the 16th stage of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, the riders were left in limbo as the peloton and the race organisers were at a standoff over the plans for the day due to the horrific weather conditions.
In the end, the two parties reached a resolution and agreed to cut the Umbrailpass from the stage, with the riders skipping the first climbs of stage 16 fully because of horrible weather conditions. Given the fact this decision was made incredibly last minute however, after riders had been made to wait around at a petrol station in a state of confusion as the rain and sleet continued bucketing down, understandably within the race weren't best impressed.
Reflecting on chaotic morning, INEOS Grenadiers sports director, Zak Dempster explained the discontent to his team's official social media pages. "So we've been in a bit of a tango with the organisation from the riders and the team's point of view for the last 24 hours to be honest," he begins. "There was proposal from the riders side to adjust the stage to take out the two and a half thousand metre passes because of the weather. That was refused."
"Then this morning, it's just been a mess to be honest," the INEOS Grenadiers sports director continues honestly. "We've just come over a pass in all the vehicles. That was snowing, that was proposed we were going to start at 10 minutes later."
As mentioned, an impasse was finally agreed with the riders taking on only the final 120km of the stage instead of the initial plans proposed by RCS, which included a neutralised opening through the original opening despite the heavy snow and rain. "It's 10 degrees and raining so conditions you can race in but obviously the energy to get to this point hasn't been easy for the guys," Dempster concludes. "But, we'll focus and attack the stage."
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