Cunego to skip Tour

The Lampre-Caffita team has announced that Damiano Cunego will not ride this year's Tour de France as he is recovering from mononucleosis. Cunego's diagnosis was confirmed shortly after the Giro and a blood test on June 17 indicated he still has antibodies to the Epstein-Barr virus which causes the disease.

"The levels are now showing (170 U.A.) compared to the 580 U.A. which was taken immediately after the Giro d'Italia, so we can see that the levels are getting to there normal stage," said a team spokesman. "However it is still a long way to go until it gets to the normal levels of between 0-20 U.A."

Team management and medical staff therefore decided with masterful understatement that, "it would not be a good idea" for Cunego to take part in the Tour, and he will not return to racing until he is fully recovered.