Giro d'Italia 2023 Stage 13 recap: Einer Rubio exploits Thibaut Pinot and Jefferson Cepeda rift to win shortened stage in style

The riders have completed their bus transfer to Le Chable ahead of the start of today's shortened Stage 13, which will head up the Croix de Coeur from the gun ahead of the summit showdown at Crans Montana. It appears that the descent of the snow-capped first climb is quite ropey - even if the wet weather seems to be far more clement over the border in Switzerland.

We have a reaction from Adam Hansen, the president of the world association of cyclists (CPA), to the shortening of the stage today. Former pro Hansen - who holds the record for consecutive Grand Tours ridden, is the riders' representative. This morning he said:

"To provide clarity from the riders' perspective, the weather conditions experienced during this year's Giro have been among the most intense. In response, the riders held a vote last night to invoke the extreme weather protocol. According to the regulations, which outline freezing rain as point 1 and extreme temperatures as point 4 during certain parts of today's route, the riders agreed to vote. If the majority surpassed 80%, the remaining riders would follow and respect the majority decision, which implementing the extreme weather protocol and executing point 3: "change of route."

"The voting process was conducted anonymously, with over 90% of the riders in favour. I and the CPA support their decision. If anyone disagrees with their choice, I will wear the cost. So send your criticism at me, not the riders. The riders are the heroes of this sport, and I believe they should focus solely on their racing rather than being subjected to negative remarks.

"I would like to extend my gratitude to the Giro organization for recognizing the need for change and understanding the riders' perspective. The extreme weather conditions experienced this year are beyond anyone's control, and the riders are grateful for the support of the RCS, volunteers, and fans. They will do their best to put on a show for the world to watch!"

Before we halt our live coverage until the scheduled restart at around 1:30pm UK time, here's a reminder of what the riders will now tackle today: a 75km ride from Le Chable to Crans Montana which starts with the Croix de Coeur climb ahead of the summit showdown in Switzerland. Note that the second intermediate sprint - and those bonus seconds - will still come in the ski resort of Verbier but just a handful of kilometres from the start...

THOMAS: 'IT'S THE RIGHT DECISION - AND WILL STILL BE A HARD STAGE'

"To be honest, I think it's the best decision. It's still going to be a super hard stage - it just means that we're not going to be in this cold, wet weather even longer. We've seen so many guys go home with sickness and injuries - if we want to get to Rome with at least 50 guys then it's a good decision. It's still going to be hard racing - it's a decent compromise.

"If anything it makes it tougher because we start straight on the second climb. No warming up. It will be super hard with a lot of attacks straight away. For us we have to keep it simple, keep doing what we're doing, communicate well, try to control the first climb - then it's just 45km to the finish from the top. It's going to be short and fast."

"It's not only the tactics it's the whole food supply thing. They had breakfast three hours ago to race now. They'll need another solid meal because they won't start for another two hours from now. So that needs to be changed, the drink strategy too. They will need more hot tea to give them warmth on top of the climb. They entire teams will be full gas working on this now. It's a logistical nightmare for everyone. I've just seen the Arkea Samsic riders standing under a shelter because their bus has already left - they didn't know about the change..."

We've just spoken to our man on the moto, Jens Voigt: "It's not just raining - it's raining a lot. Like cats and dogs basically. And it's cold. It's a pretty good decision that they shortened the stage because it was a long way. The riders and teams preferred to do the first mountain, cut around the second on the valley road, and finish as normal. But it is what it is: cold and pretty damn grim."

On claims that it may now be even harder: "Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. There's no time to warm up, no time to check your opposition and how they feel. It is out of the gates - bang. Uphill and a super hard climb, plus cold conditions. It will be super spectacular to watch but really tough on the riders."

"Given the adverse weather conditions, especially on the Italian side, the Commission decided to meet the athletes' requests by applying the Extreme Weather Protocol. Stage 13 will be shortened with the new KM 0 being set at Le Chable, at the bottom of the Croix de Coeur. The final part of the stage remains unchanged. The race will follow the original time table. The race will start at 12:30 GMT."

[That's 2:30pm Europe time and 1:30pm UK time]

And that's that for the neutral zone at Borgofranco d'Ivrea - one of the quirkiest you'll ever see in the circumstances. The peloton has fulfilled its obligations and the riders can now dry off and fuel up ahead of the rescheduled start at 1.30pm UK time...

As the riders make their way through the sodden neutral zone amid a cacaphonic symphony of disk brakes squeals, some are all smiles and trying to keep positive - including Primoz Roglic - while others look as if they're being sent into battle. Pascal Ackermann - who won Stage 11 two days ago - has devised a kind of nappy system out of a binliner to keep his backside dry, which is quite ingenious.

This is purely ceremonial and to meet contractual obligations with the town of Borgofranco d'Ivrea - who will have paid handsomely for the honour of hosting today's start. It means a very wet few kilometres for the peloton before they dry off in buses and get driven to Le Chable in Switzerland, at the foot of the Croix de Coeur climb.

Sad news from the Trek-Segafredo camp: Mads Pedersen - winner of Stage 6 in Naples - has been forced to pull out because of a bad cough. The Dane was in the breakaway yesterday and won the intermediate sprint to cut his deficit behind Jonathan Milan in the maglia cyclamino standings. But he endured a rough night according to his team - and in this terrible weather, it's not as if he's going to get any better. He'll be a big loss to the race - not least in what was proving to be a thrilling maglia ciclamino battle with Milan.

The Australian former pro is trying to be upbeat about the change and has suggested that the new-look stage would be quite a spectacle - primarily because of Croix de Coeur now coming right from the gun.

"It will be a GC day today because there won't be an opportunity for a breakaway to get up the road. It will be the GC guys who fight for the pink jersey and the stage," says Dan Lloyd.

Well, first up, it means 120km fewer on the schedule and less time in the rain. But it's going to be a huge faff for them because they still have to do the sign in at Borgofranco d'Ivrea and then they must ride the neutral zone before getting into the buses and driving to the foot of the Croix de Coeur. They will then start the stage at around 1.30pm UK time. But there will be no flat road to warm up the legs - the riders will be thrown straight into a 15.4km ascent at an average gradient of 8.8%. This could cause utter carnage because everyone will react differently to this - and some will want to attack from the outset, others will want to warm up the legs a little.

The latest that we're hearing is that the start of the stage will be delayed while the riders are driven in their team buses to the foot of the second climb, the Croix de Coeur. That means the entire climb of the Gran San Bernardo will be skipped. As the weather in Switzerland is not so bad, the final part of the stage - including that summit finish at Crans Montana - should not be affected. But this change would take out around 120km of the race so that Stage 13 is only 80km long. The situation is fairly fluid - like the weather - and so there are bound to be more changes and compromises, so stay tuned for further information.

A few days ago the decision was made that, owing to heavy snowfall on the Gran San Bernardo, the race would not go to the summit at 2469m and instead go through a tunnel at 1878m before continuing along the planned route to the finish. This would take out the Cima Coppi but still allow for much climbing and a huge battle.

When the route was devised many months ago, the plan was for a monster stage that included the Gran San Bernardo as the Cima Coppi - the highest point in the race - followed by the Croix du Coeur before a Swiss showdown on the climb of Crans Montana. Three Cat.1 climbs in succession would provide the ideal canvas for the fight for pink.

Flash flooding and heavy rain is causing chaos all over Italy and in particular in the Alps where the riders are meant to be heading today. There are reports of landslides, ice, flooding and relentless rain. As a result, a riders' meeting was called this morning - and it looks like the stage will be significantly shortened. We will keep you up to day.

Ciao ragazzi! And welcome to live coverage of Stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia as Britain's Geraint Thomas prepares for his first big GC test in pink with a scheduled summit finish at Crans Montana. The Ineos Grenadiers leader has a slender two-second gap on Primoz Roglic of Jumbo-Visma and 22 seconds on Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates as the Giro returns to the high mountains. But with adverse weather conditions once again raring their ugly head, there are severe question marks about today's outing...