No Tour for Wegelius

By Shane Stokes in Einsiedeln

British Liquigas rider Charly Wegelius rode well for team captain Danilo di Luca in the Tour of Italy, climbing strongly on some of the mountain stages and also helping to pave the way for teammate Franco Pellizotti’s victory on stage 10. He chased down Axel Merckx when the Belgian made what looked like a race-winning lone break, thus setting things up for Pellizotti’s win.

Wegelius said that he is looking forward to a good rest and so will ease back in July rather than heading to France to support Stefano Garzelli and, probably, Di Luca.

"I am not doing the Tour. That was a decision we took in the last week of the Giro," the 28 year old stated. "It is too much. At the moment it is looking like I will do the Vuelta instead. Hopefully I will end my season after that as I don’t really want to do Lombardy.

"I am tired but I am hoping I can pull something out with the last bit of energy left. It really is the last bit of energy because apart from the Giro, I have also been riding quite well since the beginning of April. If I can use my head properly and drag out the last little bit, then I will have a break after that."