Ill Romain Bardet 'just couldn’t continue' at Giro d'Italia

Romain Bardet (Team DSM) started stage 13 in Sanremo but could only manage 35 kilometres before halting
Romain Bardet (Team DSM) started stage 13 in Sanremo but could only manage 35 kilometres before halting (Image credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The Giro d’Italia had just left the Riviera and begun to climb steadily towards Pieve di Teco when Romain Bardet drifted towards the rear of the peloton. A couple of kilometres later, he braked unsteadily to a halt and lay down gingerly on the roadside. Minutes later, the race radio crackled into life with news of his abandon. So it goes.

Bardet began the day in fourth place overall, just 14 seconds off the maglia rosa Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo), and seemingly clutching the chance of a lifetime to inscribe a Grand Tour on his palmarès. Now illness had prised that opportunity from his grasp.

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Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.