Hesjedal withdraws bid for Olympic Games in Rio

Canadian Ryder Hesjedal has become the second cyclist this week to remove his name from consideration for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

The Trek-Segafredo rider announced the decision via Twitter today.

His announcement follows one by Tejay van Garderen (BMC), who cited concerns for his pregnant wife because of the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil as his reason for pulling his name from consideration for the USA team.

Hesjedal competed in the last three Olympic Games - in London and Beijing on the road, and at Athens 2004 in mountain bike cross country.