After starting in Venaria Reale on Saturday with 176 riders in the Giro d’Italia peloton, the race has already lost 11 riders ahead of stage 6's gravel challenge across Tuscany. Climbers Florian Lipowitz (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) are among the latest names forced to abandon the race.
The pair were both listed as DNS for stage 6, a 180km ride from Viareggio to Rapolano Terme, along with Israel-Premier Tech riders Riley Pickrell and Nadav Raisberg.
Woods, Raisberg and Pickrell were caught up in a crash during stage 5 from Genoa to Lucca, with the trio ending up filling out the last places on the day at 14 minutes down.
Raisberg came away from the fall with a broken triquetral bone in his right hand and is unable to continue in the race. Woods – the team’s mountain stage hunting hope – suffered road rash and contusions and was later found to be presenting “mild symptoms of concussion”, his team reported.
"I'm really disappointed to leave the Giro d’Italia, but I have to prioritise my health," Woods said. "There are many more opportunities to come this season and I’m motivated for them."
Woods had entered the race with high ambitions of a stage win. "I haven't been to the Giro since 2018 and I want to win a stage there," he told Cyclingnews back in March. "It's a big target because that way I'll have stages in all three Grand Tours."
"I'm super disappointed, leaving your first Grand Tour is something no rider wants to do. Hopefully I can get this opportunity again, and I can come back and make it to the finish," Pickrell said in a statement on social media.
The young Canadian was a late scratch from the race on Thursday morning after his team stated they were "not willing to take the risk" of a concussion after Pickrell displayed some signs of confusion following the stage 5 crash. The abandons leave Israel-Premier Tech with five riders in the race.
23-year-old Lipowitz, who burst onto the scene at the recent Tour de Romandie with the best performance of his young career to take third place overall, is also out of the race on Thursday.
The German, who was in the midst of his Grand Tour debut, is out of the race due to sickness, his Bora-Hansgrohe team reported.
“Unfortunately, due to sickness, Florian Lipowitz will not start today’s stage of the Giro d’Italia,” the team said in a social media post. “Heal up soon, Lipo!”
Woods, Raisberg and Lipowitz join seven other names on the abandon list so far this Giro d’Italia. Robert Gesink (Visma-Lease A Bike), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla), and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) are the biggest names to have headed home during the opening week, while Adrien Petit (Intermarché-Wanty) didn’t make it to the end of stage 5 due to illness.
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