Giro d’Italia organizers reroute stage 19 after cable car crash
The 19th stage of the Giro d’Italia will take on a different route than initially planned after organizers made changes to the course following a tragic cable car crash at the Mottarone in Northern Italy that left 14 people dead.
A cable car taking people from the town of Stresa near Lake Maggiore to the top of the Mottarone fell 20 meters on Sunday. Fourteen people were killed, and a five-year-old child is reportedly in serious condition at the hospital.
The Giro d’Italia had been slated to take the peloton over the first-category Mottarone as the first climb on stage 19, but organizers have altered to route to take on a different climb instead. According to a statement, that decision was made “in agreement with the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Piedmont Region and all the other institutions concerned.”
The peloton will still travel from Abbiategrasso to the Alpe di Mera finishing climb, but the rerouted stage 19 will now take on the fourth-category Gignese climb instead of the Mottarone. From the top of the Gignese, the peloton will descend into Stresa to connect back with the original route.
The route changes also shorten the stage, bringing it from 176 km to 166 km.
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