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Poor weather conditions have plagued the first two weeks of the Italian Grand Tour and once again caused concern for the already-altered 199-kilometre stage to Crans-Montana on Friday.
Race organisers RCS Sport agreed to meet with teams and riders in response, with 19 of 22 teams later voting in favour of a truncated stage that would only contain one climb of the Croix de Coeur and up to Crans-Montana.
Such a decision rendered the battle for the general classification rather uneventful as a result, though current leader Thomas confirmed it could have been a lot worse had the two parties failed to find common ground.
“At the end of the day, it’s us, the riders, who go out there and put our bodies on the line, race down dodgy descents in the cold and wet, and get sick,” Thomas said, confirming the peloton’s leverage on the matter.
“If the organisers hadn’t listed, it might have gone that way [a strike] but, fortunately, there was a good discussion and both sides compromised.
“That’s what worked well. Both sides were happy at the end of the day.”
A combination of COVID-19, crashes and illness has reduced the peloton to 135 riders ahead of the final week and the Briton was pleased they could come together under the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) and reach an agreement with authorities via the Extreme Weather Protocol.
“We had the vote with the information we had last night,” the INEOS Grenadiers rider added. “And the outcome was that 88 per cent of the riders and teams voted to go this way.
“After that, we had to stick together, that’s what makes a union a union.
“That might sound harsh but we’ve got to do what’s best (for us). In hindsight, the weather wasn’t as bad as expected the night before, but that was all we had to go off to decide.
“The main thing is to have a plan B, and to avoid any chaos. At the end of the day, I think it was still a good race. It probably made it more intense, and we went quicker.
“The future has shorter stages anyway, and so the whole debate is six and two threes.”
With Thomas exercising caution alongside GC rivals Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), it was Einer Rubio (Movistar) who emerged victorious ahead of Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Alexander Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost).
Rubio was part of the day’s main breakaway on the ascent of the Croix de Coeur and kept pace with Pinot as the lead group lost several riders over the summit.
Israel Premier-Tech’s Derek Gee was the last rider to lose ground up the Crans-Montana climb, where Rubio would eventually counter Cepeda’s attack and hold off Pinot to the line.
Thomas crossed over 1’35” after Rubio but will carry his two-second lead over Roglic into Stage 14, with Almeida 22 seconds back in third place.
The Giro d'Italia continues tonight with Stage 14, a 193-kilometre mostly flat day from Sierre to Cassano Magnago. Watch the action live from 7:55pm (AEST) on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
