Philippe Gilbert quits Tirreno-Adriatico and hopes for the podium at Milan-San Remo
Many cyclists are finding it difficult to adjust with the racing conditions at the Tirreno-Adriatico.
Three of the big names in cycling, namely, Matthew Goss, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Philippe Gilbert have already abandoned the race.
Gilbert departed from the Italian stage race because of high fever. The team’s spokesman told the media that the top ranked cyclist during the 2011 UCI Elite Men category will not ride the final stage.
He explained that the Belgian was attacked with fever after the sixth stage of the race and will miss the final stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico.
"Gilbert has 38.2°C fever, the fever came up yesterday about one hour after the stage finish. He also has a head and throat ache. Perhaps it is a virus," it was told.
"This Tirreno is really hard, the riders have raced more than 28 hours in four days. Philippe was probably already fighting the illness for a couple of days," reported by Het Nieuwsblad.
The cyclist wanted to continue the race but the team decided to give him some rest for the Milan-San Remo starting on March 17th, 2012.
He had a terrific past season but has struggled so far to register his first victory of the season.
He bagged as many as 698 UCI points to grab the first position at the UCI Elite Men World Tour rankings 2011. Australian cyclist Cadel Evans secured the second spot with 574 points.
Gilbert claimed the overall victories at the Tour of Belgium, Ster ZLM Toer and finished second overall at the Eneco Tour in the past season.
He also bagged victories at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Clasica de San Sebastian, Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne, Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and a number of other events in the 2011 season.
The Belgian finished 3rd at the Milan-San Remo 2011 and the team hopes that he has chances to make it his first win of the new season.
"He wanted to race, but we didn't want to take any risks. On Saturday, there is Milan-San Remo and that race is of course much more important," the team’s spokesperson briefed.
Matt Goss and the stage three winner of the Tirreno-Adriatico, Edvald Boasson Hagen has also opted out of the Italian event.
The race is already in its final phase and Christopher Horner is looking good to grab his first overall victory of the season.
He is dominating the stage 6 classifications with a lead of 5 seconds over Roman Kreuziger and 6 seconds over Vincenzo Nibali.
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