The Clasica de Almeria in Spain was shortened yesterday to just 21 kilometres due to high winds affecting the race.
The race organisers and teams held a meeting to discuss the strong winds and the UCI’s Extreme Weather Protocol was referred to in an effort to decide on the correct approach.
The race should have been 184 kilometres in length with a section of the course along the coast. However, the riders were finding it very difficult to ride, resulting in the race being neutralised.
The riders then took shelter from the wind and following another meeting, the decision was made to change the race to six laps of the finishing circuit, totalling 21 kilometres.
In the end, Australian Leigh Howard (IAM Cycling) took the win ahead of Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) with Howard’s team-mate Aleksejs Saramotins in third.
