Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico right to cancel snowy stages

Stages of Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico were cancelled last week due to snow

A small part of me can understand Vincenzo Nibali and Astana’s angry reaction to the cancellation of Sunday’s crucial mountain stage at Tirreno-Adriatico due to forecasted snow.

He attended the race pretty much solely for that stage and it was going to be a major building block towards his assault on the Giro d'Italia in May, so to have it taken away will have been a disappointment and a setback.

Nibali is also an expert in bad weather and I'm sure he would have been fancying his chances of winning both the stage and the race overall that day, not to mention claiming valuable UCI WorldTour points for his team.

The stage of Paris-Nice was cancelled mid-race, while at Tirreno-Adriatico it was cancelled a day in advance

On the whole, though, I think his reaction and subsequent threat to skip the Giro for fear of more stage cancellations was unnecessary and over the top.

OK, weather is an integral part of cycling and dealing with wind, rain, extreme heat and even snow are all attributes of being a good rider.

But there have to be limits and rider safety must be put before TV ratings, UCI WorldTour points and pleasing sponsors.

The snow that had been forecast on Sunday's stage didn't materialise and, in hindsight, it could have gone ahead, which was the crux of Nibali and Astana's argument.

Vincenzo Nibali reacted angrily to the cancellation of the Tirreno-Adriatico stage

Yet what if the snow had fallen, Nibali had crashed, seriously injured himself and been ruled out for the rest of the season? I'm sure Astana would have been complaining that the stage hadn't been called off, rather than moaning that it had.

To be honest, I quite envy Nibali and the other members of today's peloton for having race organisers who look out for their safety and wellbeing, because I rode in an era when races went ahead no matter what came out of the sky.

In my first Paris-Nice, for example, we had to climb Mont Ventoux in the snow and I went over the top 30 seconds behind the leading group with my leader's jersey under serious threat.

Snow is persistent threat to mountainous races in the spring

My team car came up alongside me and I asked for a jersey or a coat because I was freezing, and my directeur sportif said: "If you ride hard to catch those boys, you won't be cold anymore."

The descent down the other side was absolutely horrible, but I had no choice but to charge into those icy corners with everything I had. My hands were so cold I could barely apply the brakes.

In the end, I won the race and all was well, but I wouldn't have shed too many tears if that day's stage had been cancelled. It was brutal.

Hopefully, the weather at next week's Volta a Catalunya will be snow-free, because it promises to be a fascinating race.

Chris Froome returns to action at the Volta a Catalunya next week

Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Richie Porte, Fabio Aru and Joaquim Rodriguez are all taking part, so it's the first time this season that we will be able to see how all the Tour de France contenders are matching up against each other.

I expect Contador and Porte to be the liveliest simply because they have both just ridden Paris-Nice and should be sharper than Froome and Quintana, who haven't raced in a couple of months.

But it's a tough one to call. Everyone will be keen to make a statement and no one will be holding anything back.