Cycling in extreme weather: Charly Gaul on the famous stage 20 up to Monte Bondone at the Giro d’Italia 1956
Race director Vincenzo Torriani was asked to cancel the stage due to the rough weather conditions were forecasted. But he declined it, he may have thought, this could make the unexciting race exciting again.
It was a cold and rainy day, the rider were unprepared and underdressed, and the race director was asked again to finish the race earlier, at least a bit earlier than the original plan.
The snow started to fall and the temperatures dropped. 60 riders abandoned the race, meanwhile stage winner Charly Gaul jumped from 11th to 1st in the general classification. He was in a better condition than the most of the peloton (probably due to the large dose of amphetamines, which helped him to survive the extreme cold), but still he had to be lifted off his bike and his frozen jersey cut off him.
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