 Although Breukink won the stage, Hampsten made the bigger story by becoming the first American to don the "maglia rosa" in the history of the Giro d'Italia.Conditions were so bad that one rider, Toshiba–Look's Dominique Gaigne, had to be carried on his bike into a shelter as his hands were frozen gripping the handlebars and former winner Giuseppe Saronni even stopped at a spectator's house and returned with a glass of the Italian liqueur Grappa.The start of the fifteenth stage was moved ahead from Bormio to Spondigna, because of snow covering the Stevio Pass, but the summit finish in Merano was maintained.