Cycling update: Giro d'Italia has one of those days

It was cold. It rained. At elevation, it snowed. The riders were rerouted around the Passo Delle Erbe, made unsafe by the weather. The finish line atop the Plan de Corones was shrouded in clouds; wet, heavy snow hit the ground. Down below, it rained on the riders, who raced in their winter gear. It rained on them in Caldaro, it rained on them in Bressanone, it rained on them in Longega. Race organizers lopped off the final 5.2 kilometers - the 5.2 kilometers everybody had come to see - to move the finish below the snow line. But it rained still. Oh how it rained. Every year, it seems, the Giro d'Italia has one of those days. Yesterday was that day.

Leonardo Piepoli won his second stage of the Giro but remains over 18 minutes behind the man in pink. Paolo Savoldelli got into trouble. Jan Ullrich has a long way to go to find his Tour de France form. Gilberto Simoni's best days appear to be behind him. Ivan Basso's best days appear to stretch endlessly before him to the horizon.

And the mountains reminded us that they are mountains, not to be trifled with.

Just another day at the Giro d'Italia.