Chaotic end as Giro hit by snow, doping positive

VAL MARTELLO, Italy (AFP) –

A snowplow works in Passo del Tonale after the cancellation of the 19th stage of the 96th Giro d’Italia from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello, on May 24, 2013.

The 96th edition of the Giro d’Italia is facing a chaotic finale as wintry weather in the Dolomites forced the cancellation of Friday’s stage and changes to Saturday’s final day in the high mountains.

Despite the white-out, it proved something of a black Friday for organisers who woke to the news that 2007 race winner Danilo Di Luca was out of the race after reportedly testing positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythrpoietin).

Race director Michele Acquarone insisted: “We don’t want this isolated case to overshadow what has so far been an exciting and spectacular race.”

However Acquarone admitted Friday had been a “unique and strange day”.

Amid unseasonably cold conditions and fears for rider safety, organisers had announced an alternative route for Friday’s stage from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello in Italy’s far north-east after heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures left the Gavia and Stelvio mountain passes unraceable.

The Tonale and Castrin passes were brought in as replacements but they too were hit with heavy snowfall, forcing organisers to cancel.

Director of race organisation Mauro Vegni later said: “We deeply regret having to cancel one of the most beautiful stages in the race.

Italian Danilo Di Luca rides on May 23, 2013 in Polsa. Di Luca was out of the race after reportedly testing positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythrpoietin).

“In 25 years we have never had to cancel a stage due to this kind of weather. But in spite of our best efforts we had no choice.”

Italian Vincenzo Nibali, who stretched his race lead over closest rival, Australian Cadel Evans, to 4min 02sec after winning Thursday’s uphill time trial, now has a far tighter grip on the pink jersey.

The Astana team leader was given a further boost as big changes were also made to Saturday’s 20th and penultimate stage.

Instead of five mountain passes and a finish on the legendary Tre Cime de Lavaredo, the ‘Queen’ mountain stage of the race has been altered to feature as few descents as possible.

The peloton will instead race through the Brunico and Dobbiaco valleys to reach Cortina d’Ampezzo, from where the climb to the summit finish of Tre Cime di Lavaredo begins.

Vegni said they remained hopeful their plan would hold.

“Even in the case of non-optimal conditions, we will do our best to make sure this stage goes to the finish.

“We all know the weather can change in a few hours in the mountains, but at the same time we will not put the peloton at any kind of risk.

“We are monitoring the situation regularly and our experts on the ground are giving us constant feedback.”

The slim chance Evans had of catching Nibali now looks to have evaporated, but the Australian — who admitted Thursday he was now fighting to keep second place — did not seem vexed.

Italian cyclist Vincenzo Nibali and his colleagues train at a hotel following the cancellation of the 19th stage of the 96th Giro d’Italia from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello on May 24, 2013.

“Snow still falling here at our Giro Hotel…and we are at 1000m lower altitude than the proposed climbs,” Evans, the 2011 Tour de France champion, said in a post on his twitter account.

The decision was also largely welcomed by a peloton that has been lashed by rain and cold for much of the race.

British sprinter Mark Cavendish, who has won four stages on this edition but is at his weakest in the mountains, said: “I remember waking up excited to see snow. Then I became a cyclist. Now I wake up to snow & have to wait to see if I’m excited or not.”

The International Cycling Union (UCI) also supported the decision.

“The organisers have put the security of riders first and the UCI supports their decision,” said president Pat McQuaid.

The 37-year-old Di Luca, meanwhile, is the second rider from this year’s field to leave the race for being implicated in a doping affair.

The Vini Fantini rider was provisionally suspended by the UCI and could now face a lifetime ban from the sport as he has been embroiled in, and banned because of, several doping affairs in the past.

Acquarone said: “If a rider who looks me in the eyes and says, ‘I’ve made a mistake’, then I believe him. But when he goes off and does the same thing again, to me, he seems addicted.

“He’s someone who needs help.”

Last week Frenchman Sylvain Georges quit the race after it emerged he had tested positive for an over-the-counter stimulant.

The race finishes in Brescia on Sunday.