The 2022 Marco Pantani Memorial was cancelled due to extreme weather conditions.

The Italian one-day race was scheduled to take place on Saturday, with Egan Bernal and Vincenzo Nibali on the start list, but heavy wind and rain forced organizers to cancel the event.

Initially, the route was shortened by 52 km due to the conditions, but it was later decided that the race would not take place at all.

Italy has been hit by storms over the past few days, with many deaths reported in the Marche region, located in the center and east of the country.

Cesenatico, Marco Pantani's hometown, is located just north of the Marche region on the Adriatic coast, and the bad weather continued through the weekend.

According to organizers, the UCI's Extreme Weather Protocol was invoked and discussions took place between athlete representatives, race organizers, and UCI officials.

Domenico Pozzovivo, an Italian like Nibali, was seen conferring with organizers.

The 1.1 class race, originally scheduled to start at 11:15 local time, was postponed to 12:30, cutting the opening 52 km and forcing teams to drive to the new starting point in Borrello.

However, it was soon decided that the event would be scrapped altogether.

The Marco Pantani Memorial, recently won by Sonny Colbrelli and Alexey Lutsenko, is part of the late season Italian Classic. The start list includes Daniel Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers), who won the Coppa Sabatini on Thursday, and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), who won the Giro della Toscana on Wednesday.

"I always want to be in the race, but looking at the weather, it's a good decision to keep the riders safe," said Israeli Premier Tech rider Yente Biermans.

"The weather is really crazy. When you look at the last 200 meters, the finish line was just water on the road. It was the best decision and I'm really happy."