Bos withdraws from Giro d'Italia

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Rabobank are yet to win a stage at the 2012 Giro d'Italia and they will be tackling the remainder of the race without the services of Theo Bos, after the Dutchman withdrew this morning ahead of stage 17. The earlier withdrawals of Mark Renshaw, Graeme Brown, Tom Leezer and Dennis van Winden means that Rabobank have just four riders left as the race moves towards its conclusion this weekend.

With the last part of the race dominated by climbing, Bos and his team decided it would be counter-productive to keep the sprinter in the race and his withdrawal will allow him to focus on his main targets later in the summer. Bos has enjoyed a successful season so far, highlighted by two stage wins at the Tour of Turkey and victory at Dwars door Drenthe .

"If he continued, he would need a long time to recover," a team spokesman said. "He is primarily a sprinter and therefore the rest of the race will not suit him."

It has been confirmed that Team Sky's Peter Kennaugh and Orica-GreenEdge's Daryl Impey have also withdrawn ahead of today's 187km stage from Falzes/Pfalzen to Cortina d'Ampezzo.