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Pro cycling’s 5 best snow days
It’s chilly outside and those clouds look a bit ominous. So if you need a little more inspiration than normal to get out on the bike, we’ve rounded up five of the snowiest stages and Monuments to hit the pro peloton.
Milan-San Remo: 2013
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In recent years, Milan-San Remo has bestowed favourable mid-teens temperatures onto the peloton as it departs for the longest one-day race on the calendar. One of the most memorable editions, however, was anything but.
A freezing cold edition in 2013 initially brought pounding rain as riders left Milan. This quickly turned into a barrage of snowfall. Attempts at quickly diverting the race faded away until neutralisation between Ovada and Cogoleto was the only option on the cards after 112km of racing.
Onto team buses they went, shielding from the Arctic conditions that formed icicles on noses. Multiple riders abandoned before the restart and the race then continued, heading full speed towards the climb of the Cipressa.
Team Sky’s Ian Stannard attacked in the final 10km on the foot of the Poggio with Sylvain Chavanel from Omega Pharma-QuickStep but were joined by a group containing Cannondale’s Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara of RadioShack-Leopard at the bottom of the climb. The six-man group would sprint for the win and instead of a big name victorious on such a brutal day, Gerald Ciolek of MTN-Qhubeka would pip Sagan, Cancellara and Chavanel to the line as a pub quiz answer for the decades.
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Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 1980
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Another Monument, another snowstorm pummelling the peloton. 174 riders started Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1980, which began by heading into Luxembourg before returning into Liège for the latter half of the race for over 260km. Over half the pack quickly abandoned. Renault-Gitane’s Bernard Hinault wasn’t one of them.
26-year-old Hinault arrived at Liège-Bastogne-Liège having ridden through a cold and snowy edition of Paris-Nice. He also finished fifth at the Amstel Gold Race, fourth at Paris-Roubaix and third at La Flèche Wallonne. The small pattern dictates that he would place second here, but Hinault wished to withdraw before coming close to reaching the finish. His only remaining teammate, Maurice le Guilloux, persuaded him to carry on.
It was in the last 80km that Hinault powered away with chattering teeth and numb arms. The snow cleared slightly, even making way for a brief appearance of the sun, but bitter temperatures remained. He crossed over La Redoute and the Côte des Forges alone and his advantage swelled.
Hinault finished first, with minimal celebration. Second placed Hennie Kuiper of Peugeot-Esso-Michelin followed almost ten minutes later. Hinault was left with numb fingers for many months after and still felt pain in the cold for years.
Giro d’Italia, 2016
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It’s still painful to think about. What if Steven Kruijswijk hadn’t crashed into a snowbank at the 2016 Giro d’Italia?
Stage 19 was a 162km day that dipped into France with the Cima Coppi of the Colle dell’Agnello. A summit finish awaited in the Category 1 Risoul. Kruijswijk led the race with a strong gap of three minutes to Esteban Chaves and Vincenzo Nibali. It was on the descent of the Cima Coppi that that the Dutchman crashed into a wall of snow, flipped over his handlebars and sent his bike flying.
The gap from Nibali and Chaves to Kruijswijk grew. Italian Road Race Champion Nibali attacked in the last 5km to distance Chaves, win the day and take second place overall. Chaves finished 53 seconds down on Nibali to take the race lead.
Kruijkwijk admitted that he ‘lost the Giro here’ and it’s impossible to disagree. He slipped out of the maglia rosa to finish almost five minutes down on Nibali, third overall. The Italian would bunnyhop Chaves in the standings the next day on his way to winning his second Giro.
Giro d’Italia, 2013
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Stage 20 of the 2013 Giro d’Italia was scheduled to stretch over the 200km mark and pack three climbs into the last 40km, including the Passo Giau and a summit finish on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Or that was the plan before snow forced organisers to reroute the stage, taking out all the climbs except the final two. The Passo Giau was scrapped and riders headed towards the Category 2 Passo Tre Croci and the Lavaredo.
Nibali was in the lead by over four minutes from BMC Racing’s Cadel Evans. The previous day, expected to be a mighty affair over the Gavia and Stelvio passes, had itself been cancelled altogether due to snow. It was the first stage cancellation by the race due to the weather conditions in over two decades.
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In snowy, ice-cold temperatures, Nibali attacked towards the summit of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, cutting a lonely figure in the maglia rosa, which stood out like a beacon in a background of white. He crested the summit where Eddy Merckx won his first Giro title in 1968, holding a gap of 17 seconds to Team Colombia’s Fabio Duarte. Nibali’s win would later be deemed his third stage victory after Stage 14’s initial winner Mauro Santambrogio tested positive for EPO, and cemented Nibali’s first Giro d’Italia victory.
Giro d’Italia, 2021
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Snow and mountains might make for cancelled or altered stages, but it also makes for breathtaking shots. Egan Bernal raced through the mountains on Stage 16 of the 2021 Giro d’Italia on his way to overall glory, the second Colombian to win since Nairo Quintana in 2014.
Organisers were forced to cut the Passo Fedaia and Passo Pordoi from the route, losing 59km and near enough 2,000m of climbing on the queen stage. The highest point of the race became the Passo Giau, which preceded a lengthy descent to the finish in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Bernal attacked halfway up the Giau, bridged to the leaders then overtook them. What happened next? Well, who knows? TV images promptly cut out and remained at the finish line where a crowd awaited the arrival of their champion-elect. Bernal eventually appeared and removed his rain jacket to proudly show off the maglia rosa.
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