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A brief history of snow causing chaos at the Giro d’Italia

Photo by: Sirotti

As the 2023 Giro d’Italia lurches towards the high mountains, organizers are being forced to adapt. Among the other challenges, a stormy forecast threatens to blanket several key mountain stages in a deep blanket of snow. On Tuesday, Giro organizers confirmed that Friday’s 13th stage would not go all the way up the 2,469-m Col du Grand Saint-Bernard, which was to be this year’s cima coppi.

But this is far from the first year snow has caused minor – or major chaos at the Giro d’Italia. The first Grand Tour of the year often flirts with a winter season that lingers just a little longer at high elevations. From race leaders crashing into snowbanks to epic solo quests through blizzard conditions, here are a few of the more recent times the Giro has clashed with Old Man Winter.

2016: Steven Kruijswijk crashes on Coll dell’Agnello (Stage 19)

The 2016 Giro was well into the third week Steven Kruijswick had a spectacular crash while trying to follow Vincenzo Nibali off of the Coll dell’Agnello. As the Italian carved through a wet corner, LottoNL-Jumbo’s Dutch rider drifted towards the road’s shoulder which, in this case, was a massive wall of snow. The Maglia Rosa collided with the wall and was set somersaulting off of his bike.

Kruijswick was lucky, in that he was able to stand up, adjust his bike and keep riding mostly uninjured after the sensational crash. He was less lucky in terms of his place in the race. The Dutchman lost 4:05 and the pink jersey to Esteban Chaves by the finish of Stage 19. Nibali would win the stage and, eventually, take over the lead from Chaves to win his second Giro. It was Nibali’s fourth and final Grand Tour win.

Andy Hampsten is barely visible through thick snow during the 1988 Giro’s ascent of Gavia on Stage 14. Photo: Sirotti

1988: Andy Hampsten attacks on Gavia (Stage 14)

Andy Hampsten’s ride up the Gavia is deeply engrained in cycling lore. 35 years later, many cycling fans still remember or have heard legends of the U.S. racer braving a blizzard to ride to Giro glory. And the ride has all the elements of a legend. Hamsten’s team employed lanolin wax, diving gloves and ski gear, alongside the team’s iconic 7-Eleven jerseys and Oakleys, to protect the riders from heavy falling snow.

The unorthodox equipment proved decisive. Johan van der Velde beat Hampsten to the Gavia summit but lost his lead when he was so cold he was forced to walk sections of the descent down into Bormio.

Hampsten didn’t actually win the stage, though. After passing van der Velde, the American was caught and passed by Erik Breukink on the lower stretches of the descent toward the finish line. Breukink won the stage by seven seconds, but Hampsten moved into the overall race lead. That made him the first American to pull on the Giro d’Italia leader’s jersey. He would fight through more adverse weather to defend that jersey and become the first U.S. racer to win the Italian Grand Tour.

Fog mixed in with snow, and questionable communication, to create chaos on the Stelvio in 2014. Photo: Sirotti

2014: Hesjedal, Rolland and Quintana court controversy on Gavia and Stelvio (Stage 16)

When Giro organizers combined Gavia with the nearby Passo Stelvio, winter again decided to join the party. Snow on the summit Stelvio caused confusion among riders though miscommunication from the organizers did not help. A Twitter message announcing a neutralization of the snowy descent off of the Stelvio was quickly contradicted.

Some riders thought they were done racing, others claimed not to have heard anything about a neutralization. Ryder Hesjedal, Nairo Quintana and Pierre Rolland were on the attack and decided not to slow down. Organizers backed the attackers and the riders that respected the rescinded neutralization were left clutching their jackets and wondering what had actually happened.

2013: Nibali attacks through snow on Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Stage 20)

Based on Vincenzo Nibali’s success in snowy Giro stages, Snow Sharks might just be a real thing. On the penultimate stage of racing in 2013, Nibali attacked through a blizzard on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Fabio Duarte and Rigoberto Uran were dropped and lost crucial time. Braving the blizzard lead to Nibali’s first Giro win, three years before his skills in similarly frost conditions helped earn him his second.

Conditions were chilly, but the Italian passion for cycling burns hot. Nibali through the snow on Tre Cime di Lavaredo in 2013. Photo: Sirotti

1939: Gino Bartali crashes on Passo Tonale

Passo Tonale made its first Giro d’Italia appearance in 1933. Six years later, it would prove decisive. Pre-race favourite Gino Bartali crashed in snow and thick fog. Giovanni Valetti would win the stage and, after weeks of back-and-forth racing with Bartali, win that year’s Giro.

An EF Education – Nippo rider just poking up over a snowbank on Passo Giau. Photo: Sirotti

2021: A shortened Queen Stage gets frosty on Passo Giau (Stage 16)

By 2021, UCI had (wisely) imposed its Extreme Weather Protocol. While this was designed to ensure rider safety in exactly the type of conditions that the Giro has so often immortalized. It still doesn’t completely protect racers from frigid conditions.

Snow forced organizers to shorten 2021’s Queen Stage. Passo Giau still helped winter work its way onto the shortened course. Egan Bernal would win, extending his lead, as the peloton flirted with the snowline.

This was not the first time UCI’s Extreme Weather Protocol has forced a re-route at the Italian Grand Tour. In 2019, Passo Gavia was removed, with the peloton going up Cevo instead.