Giro d'Italia 2020 - Riders take bus for first 100km of Giro stage after peloton protest

The first 100km of Friday’s Stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia will be ridden on the bus, after the riders threatened to strike, forcing organisers to reschedule the route.

What had been scheduled to be a monster 251km stage from Morbegno to Asti will now be 133km, starting in Abiategrasso near Milan.

The decision came after protests from riders over race safety, with the stage coming immediately after a day which included the fearsome Stelvio climb followed by a freezing descent through snowfields.

“Stage shortened,” confirmed Eurosport’s Bernie Eisel on Twitter. “Riders jump on the bus now and start the stage near Milan.

“Riders talked to the organisers last night already to shorten the stage. Finally the riders said we won’t race and an agreement was found.”

A rider who wished to remain anonymous, said to Eurosport:

The riders were introduced to fans as scheduled in Morbegno so as not to cancel the host town's event and lined up at the start as usual before transferring to the team buses.

A number of factors are believed to be behind the riders' protests and decision to shorten the stage. The impact of the October weather has been even greater than predicted on the riders, with the forecast for Friday's stage not good, leading to some safety fears, particularly after Thursday's physically-demanding day on the snow.

In addition, the already gargantuan stage length was set to be extended further due to a collapsed bridge.

Stage 19 stood out as the longest of the race when the Giro d'Italia route was announced, with the stage skirting Lake Como before making a long and relatively flat drag to Asti.

The shortening of the stage, as well as the removal of some of the climbs on Saturday's stage due to weather conditions, means that Stage 20's ascent to Sestriere and Stage 21's time trial have gained even more significance in the battle for the General Classification.

Wilco Kelderman leads the race after taking over GC on Stage 18, with his team-mate Jai Hindley 12 seconds back and Ineos' Tao Geoghegan Hart a further three seconds down.