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Heavy rain and snow made for difficult conditions in the Italian Alps, where 80 kilometres were eventually removed from the route to the Monte Pana.
O’Connor, however, was still unhappy with the distance set for the stage - 118.4 kilometres - and took aim at race director Mauro Vegni for the stipulations provided to the peloton.
"It’s probably one of the most poorly organised races," O’Connor told Eurosport ahead of the stage. "To be honest, this wouldn't happen in 99% of cases.
"It's a shame, it's 2024 and there are dinosaurs who still don't see the human side of things. I want the stage to be maintained, but I don't want to go beyond 2,500 metres, in three or five degrees and with heavy rain.
"I think it's quite clear: you have to make the start lower and go to the end with the planned finish.
"I would like to see Mauro Vegni on the bike instead of us. Maybe he would have some empathy and understand our situation. Very nice images for the viewers, but not for us."
In the end, it was Pogacar who prevailed on the shortened stage with his fifth win at this year’s Italian Grand Tour, further increasing his grip on the maglia rosa in the process.
Pogacar now sits 7’18” in front of his general classification rivals, with Daniel Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) up to second after usurping Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) who conceded more time for his struggles.
Martinez crossed over in third place for the stage itself, a touch behind Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) who could not keep pace with a late attack from Pogacar.
"The day started really on and off, we didn’t know what to do but when we started racing it was fine," Pogacar said.
"In the final two kilometres we tried to control it, [teammate] Rafal Majka had enough and then we pushed on and tried to make some gaps. I’m super-happy."
The UAE Team Emirates star has all but sealed his overall victory with five stages remaining, though O’Connor is still within reach of a place on the podium - 1’02” behind Thomas.
