Flecha and Thomas out of Worlds
Team Sky suffered its third loss today at the Vuelta a Espana. Juan Antonio Flecha is the third rider from the British team to abandon the 21-stage event, two-thirds of the way through today’s 187km, stage seven.
"Flecha is definitely not 100% right now,” said Team Sky director Marcus Ljungqvist. “He had a bad stomach this morning and things haven't improved a great deal as the day has worn on. He's battled on to the finish though and hopefully he'll be fit enough to continue tomorrow."
The Spaniard fell back on climb of the Hondon de los Frailes and rode to the team car with the decision made to abandon the race. Ben Swift and John-Lee Augustyn were the first Team Sky riders to abandon the event, citing a team-wide stomach bug.
“The entire team is sick but we don’t know what’s causing it,” said team principal David Brailsford. “In the middle of last night, Ben Swift, John-Lee Augustyn, Simon Gerrans and Peter Kennaugh have been badly sick. They threw up. Swift pulled out even before the start proper and Augustyn did the same a few kilometers further. I still wonder how Gerrans and Kennaugh have managed to reach the finish because they are in a pretty bad shape.”
Flecha’s abandonment puts his bid for the Road World Championships in doubt. The 21-rider long-list for the Spanish national team included the rider, but his failure to finish the event make his inclusion on the short-list unlikely.
Another Team Sky rider, Geraint Thomas, has also dropped out of the Road World Championships, blaming fatigue. The Welsh rider wore the best-young-rider’s jersey for four days in the Tour de France and has chosen not to support Mark Cavendish in Australia because he is still feeling the effects of the Tour.
“I'm not going to be riding because I haven't felt too good since the Tour. I had a bit of down time and then at Eneco I was struggling to get back into it,” said Thomas. “I decided to just pull out because I don't think I'll be 100 percent. I thought it would be better to step aside and let one of the other guys ride who are going to be more motivated and going a bit better.”
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