Pogacar bites his tongue, O'Connor slams RCS after Giro debacle: "This is the worst-organized race"

Chaos reigns in the sixteenth stage of the Giro d'Italia. The stage was supposed to run from Livigno over the Umbrail Pass to the finish, but given the dire conditions, the riders and teams deemed it unwise to race. Pink jersey holder Tadej Pogacar spoke to the press before the start of the stage, but it was particularly Ben O'Connor, placed fourth, who harshly criticized RCS.

"What can I say? I try to keep smiling, but I hope it stays safe. It's raining and going to snow; I hope this day ends quickly," he stated. "I don’t know much about the situation, but from what I can see, the weather is terribly bad. At the hotel, I already saw a lot of snowflakes at 1900 meters. To go six hundred meters higher up, it's going to be full snow."

"I think it's quite dangerous to go downhill," said the Slovenian, who still somewhat defended RCS. "If the stage would have been better designed, maybe it could have been possible."

"But it’s really not nice to descend from 2500 meters downhill and then in the valley you have to race long distances at high speed. That’s also not good for health, but let’s see what decision is made. I mainly hope that no incidents will occur and there will be no dangerous moments, so no one will have to regret it afterward."

"It wouldn’t be my first time in the snow for me, but with so long climbs, you never know what can happen. I’m not the one making the decisions, but the majority of the riders agreed that we want to start after the Umbrail Pass. We want to reach the finish in a different way," he concluded.

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O'Connor appeared before Eurosport's cameras. "This is one of the worst-organized races, to be honest. It's 2024 and we still deal with dinosaurs who can't think humanely. For clarity: I'd love to race, but not at 2500 meters with temperatures around freezing and snow."

"Even if we start elsewhere, there is still a race," the Aussie continued. "I would like to put one of the organizers on a bike, have them ride this stage, and then ask them afterward how it was," he said cynically.

Video: Pogacar before start of stage 16 Giro d'Italia