Two pre-race favorites are out. One due to COVID-19, the other to a broken hip suffered on a slippery descent. Scores of others have abandoned the race due to illness and crashes. A hometown hero went home. One of the peloton’s marquee teams is down to just three riders.

And the rain has simply not stopped.

After kicking things off with a beautiful time trial, this year’s Giro d’Italia has been absolutely ravaged by bad weather, COVID-19, and at least one stray dog.

The situation in Northern Italy is so rough right now, even F1—one of the biggest sports in the world at the moment—canceled this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Gran Prix after massive flooding in the region.

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Tim de Waele//Getty Images
Relentless rain at the 2023 Giro d’Italia

Of course, all of this sporting news pales in comparison to the nine people who’ve died in the flooding and the more than 5,000 others who’ve been displaced by the storms. Because, in the end, it’s just bike racing we’re talking about.

But this is a cycling magazine and so we have to ask the question of whether Giro organizers should decide that enough is enough.

Let’s look at the first element that came out of nowhere to seemingly ravage the peloton: COVID-19.

Just as it did in its initial stages around the world, COVID-19 hit the peloton in bits.

Just one day after the World Health Organization declared that the virus was “no longer a public health emergency” did the Giro start. And just a few days after that, the first cases started popping up in the peloton.

Then, as it did in those first few weeks and months three years ago, it came on stronger and faster, with more and more riders testing positive every day.

Soon, we saw first-rate riders like Aleksandr Vlasov and Filippo Ganna abandon, followed by Domenico Pozzovivo and Rigoberto Urán.

It’s zenith, at least in terms of the news cycle, was on Sunday when maglia rosa-wearer and race favorite Remco Evenepoel abandoned the race due to a positive test. Stricter measures were reinstated by the governing bodies. Masking became a thing again. A few days later, four of Evenepoel’s Soudal Quick-Step teammates abandoned after testing positive. Their team has been so ravaged, they’re down to just three riders, providing us with this photo that may, in the end, best encapsulate this year’s Giro.

Yet, even if the virus forces most of the peloton to abandon, you would have to assume that those not affected will still race. There is too much money tied up, too many eyeballs watching. Though it will continue to massively affect it, COVID-19 will not stop the Giro.

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LUCA BETTINI//Getty Images
Remco’s teammate assisting him after his crash in Stage 5 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia

But what about the other major element running roughshod through this year’s Giro: rider safety?

This year’s Giro has been a mess due almost wholly to the ceaseless rain that’s been saturating most of Italy over the last two weeks. It seems that every single stage has seen its share of rainfall. And at least one can best be described as a deluge from start to finish.

But bike racers race in the rain all the time. What’s the big deal?

The big deal is Tao Geoghehan Hart’s broken hip. The big deal is that, while we’ve seen a few climbs and one proper mountain finish, the big climbing still looms. And with big climbing comes big descending. And big rain in big mountains becomes big snow.

The Giro has plenty of experience dealing with snow. All Grand Tours do. In fact, snowy climbs have created some of the most memorable moments in bike racing history. And many of them come courtesy of the Giro.

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JASPER JACOBS//Getty Images
Slick roads in the 2023 Giro d’Italia

But a snowy climb is not a slick descent. A snowy climb equals discomfort. A slick descent could mean a whole lot worse.

Does anyone really think Giro organizers and the UCI will ever consider calling the race? Doubtful. Should they? Maybe.

What’s more likely, especially if Northern Italy continues to see deadly flooding, is stage alterations and truncations.

No matter what happens, if the first week-and-a-half of this year’s Giro has taught us anything it’s to expect the unexpected, prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and don’t think what happens today means anything for what might happen tomorrow.

Headshot of Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

Michael Venutolo-Mantovani is a writer and musician based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He loves road and track cycling, likes gravel riding, and can often be found trying to avoid crashing his mountain bike.