In a sad turn of affairs, Romain Bardet (Team DSM) will be pulling out from Giro d’Italia following an illness. He got inflicted with the illness in the previous stage to Genoa and because of this he halted right in the start of stage 13 which was till Cuneo.
Team DSM made the following official post on social media.
We are sad to confirm that @romainbardet has abandoned the #Giro. After becoming sick during yesterday’s stage, his condition worsened overnight and despite all efforts, he is no longer in a position to continue the race.
— Team DSM (@TeamDSM) May 20, 2022
As you can see in the post, Team DSM stated:
We are sad to confirm that Romain Bardet has abandoned the Giro. After becoming sick during yesterday’s stage, his condition worsened overnight and, despite all efforts, he is no longer in a position to continue the race.
As Bardet will be withdrawing from the Italian Grand Tour, the team’s rankings will definitely be affected. Prior to this, Bardet was sitting at the fourth overall position which is impressive, this is just 14 seconds behind the Maglia Rosa Juan Pedro Lopez (Sega-Fredo). Will Team DSM make a comeback from this, this remains to be seen.
Bardet won the Tour of the Alps last month and that automatically made him a favorite for Giro d’Italia. He even showed quite the promise at the end of stage 9 of the Italian Grand Tour. On the second half of the stage, he got overwhelmed by Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa. Even with the toughest portion of the climb ahead, he managed to get by well.
This is not Bardet’s first take on the Giro, as he made his debut last year. He was placed at the seventh overall position but still showed the skills and valor to earn a podium spot. His condition even worried the team coach Matthew Winston, who said:
It was really difficult. He started the stage yesterday and after about 10km he was being sick. We looked after him through the stage, trying to keep him cool with ice and water and really look after him and nurse him through the stage.
He slept the whole way back in the bus after the race. He didn’t eat last night, he couldn’t eat anything. He was awake all night being sick.
This morning there was a small chance he could finish today but Romain’s a fighter. He wanted to start the stage, he wanted to go for it. But he was already being sick in the neutral and it just wasn’t possible to continue.
Following Bardet leaving the event, Winston has pledged that they will keep on fighting for Giro wins. Alberto Dainese will be leading with the victories as well as Thymen Arsensman, his GC ranking is at the 11th overall place with big chances to move forward.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/Cycling Pro Net
