Colbrelli withdraws from Paris-Nice with bronchitis

Sonny Colbrelli is a non-starter on stage 2 of Paris-Nice due to bronchitis. The Italian was surprisingly dropped from the peloton in the finale of stage 1 in Mantes-la-Ville, coming in more than six minutes down on winner Christophe Laporte, and his Bahrain Victorious squad announced his withdrawal from the race on Monday morning.

“Sonny Colbrelli suffers from bronchitis and won't start in stage 2,” read a social media post from Bahrain Victorious.

“In his health interest and preparation for the next steps of this season, in agreement with the team's medical staff, it has been decided to take the necessary rest and treatment at home.”

The Italian only began his season last week, winning the sprint for second place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The loss of valuable racing days at Paris-Nice will complicate his approach to Milan-San Remo on March 19 and the remainder of the Classics campaign.

A year ago, however, Colbrelli also started his season at Opening Weekend and he rode neither Paris-Nice nor Tirreno-Adriatico before placing 8th at Milan-San Remo.

Colbrelli didn’t claim a victory last spring, but he would on to enjoy a remarkable 2021 season after he opened his account at the Tour de Romandie in late April.

He notched up a total of eight victories including the European Championships road race the overall title at the Benelux Tour and the pandemic-postponed Paris-Roubaix in October.