The 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia was to be run over 210 kilometers between Lienz and Monte Zoncolan, featuring the Monte Crostis as the next-to-last mountain before the finishing climb up Zoncolan. The Giro d'Italia race organizer RCS has now given in from pressure by the team managers to cut out Monte Crostis. This would shorten the stage to about 185 kilometers.
The Monte Crostis is an out and back loop, so it would be easy to remove from the route. The organizers have yet to communicate to exact details of the new route, but it seems obvious to cut out the loop. Instead of going straight in Ovaro, the riders could make an immediate right and tackle the ten-kilometer climb up Monte Zoncolan.
In a statement released Friday night, RCS maintains that it has done everything to run the race in a proper fashion. "The organizer has put in place all the necessary measures to ensure the riders' safety," the statement read. But it cited complaints by the team managers, "because of the impossibility to ensure an optimal sports management at the end of the stage." This was referring to the fact that no team cars would have been able to follow over the Crostis climb.
For a total of 37 kilometers, riders would have been forced to solely rely on following motor vehicles for technical support. RCS tried to propose an alternative, which was rejected by the UCI race commissaires. The UCI panel did not authorize running the 14th stage as described in the technical guide of the 2011 Giro d'Italia. "The ascent of Monte Crostis and the following descent are therefore eliminated from the race route," the RCS statement continued.
Riders will still have to do without team cars for the final ten kilometers . "In this new race route, the team cars will be authorized to follow the race up to the foot of the final ascent, Monte Zoncolan."
Monte Crostis is a 14-kilometer long climb with a maximum gradient of 18 percent. The climb starts in Bivio per Tualis at an altitude of 565 meters and finishes on 1982 meters. The Monte Zoncolan starts at almost the same level (530 meters) and ends slightly lower (1730 meters) - but the climb measures only ten kilometers, so is much steeper. Monte Zoncolan has three very steep sections. At kilometer 3.5, the gradient hits the climb's maximum (22 percent). At kilometer 5.5, the gradient is 20 percent and at kilometer nine, one kilometer from the finish the gradient is 18 percent.