Giro d'Italia riders, tired and stressed by bad weather and a string of mass falls, have managed to get what would have been the race's longest stage cut short to ease their weary legs.
''By mutual consent with the riders and in view of the complaints of the last few days we have decided to shorten tomorrow's stage by 34 km,'' organiser Angelo Zomegnan said.
In effect, the gruelling last lap around the hilly Gargano peninsula has been lopped off.
Thursday's stage in Puglia will now run 231 km instead of the planned 265 - envisaged as posing the Giro's first real test.
Friday's 180km stage into the Abruzzo mountains, which features a taxing last 14km and a potentially killer uphill finish, is now seen as the first chance for the favourites to make a move.
After Wednesday's flat fifth stage young Italian Franco Pelizzotti holds a one-second lead over US newcomer Christian Vandevelde, with last year's Giro winner Danilo Di Luca seven seconds behind the leader.
Spain's Alberto Contador, winner of last year's Tour de France, led the pre-race betting.
He is 30 seconds off the lead and poised to make a move, pundits say.
Tour of Spain winner Denis Menchov of Russia and Contador's team-mate Andreas Kloden of Germany might follow him on Friday's mountains, they think.
The 2001 and 2003 Giro winner, Gilberto Simoni, a minute behind, and 2002 and 2005 winner Paolo Savoldelli, 19 seconds back, should also feature.
Italy's upcoming Riccardo Ricco' may not be up for the challenge after a heavy fall.
The 3,430km race started in Sicily at the weekend and winds up through the mountains south of Rome, the capital itself, Tuscany and the central Apennines before the decisive stages in the Dolomites and Alps.
A 14km mountain time trial on stage 16 and the storied climbs to Passo del Gavia and Passo del Mortirolo on the second-last day are expected to decide the outcome.
The Giro ends on June 1 with the traditional flat run-in to Milan.
