Due to an "unstable sheet of ice that could fall onto the road", organisers have been forced to shorten stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia Women, and relocate the finish of the key mountain stage to Sestriere to 1km from the top of the Colle delle Finestre.
The dramatic news was announced with 7.5km of the 18.1km climb remaining on the race's social media, after there were reports of the road being blocked at the top of the climb following an avalanche.
"UPDATE FROM RACE DIRECTION Due to an unstable sheet of ice that could fall onto the road, for safety reasons, the stage will finish approximately 1 km before the Colle delle Finestre GPM," read a post on the Giro d'Italia Women's X account.
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At the time of the announcement, FDJ-Unitez SUEZ had already shredded the group of favourites down significantly on the climb through Celia Gery and Lauren Dickson.
Their leader, Demi Vollering, went on to win the abbreviated stage in anticlimactic fashion, crossing a line signalled by two rocks 1km from the summit, but with massive crowds still to greet them.
As the riders were informed via race radio of the late changes on the climb, it left little room for the GC battle to unfold as was planned, with Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM), Isabella Holgren (Lidl-Trek), and pink jersey Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) able to follow all of her attacks.
This was the first appearance of the Finestre at the women's Giro, having been an icon of the men's race where the likes of Chris Froome and Simon Yates have thrived in the past.
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