Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) has been forced to abandon his final Grand Tour, with the Australian leaving the Giro d'Italia with 80km left to run on stage 19 after having fallen ill.
Porte was dropped from the peloton on the first climb of the day, the third-category Villanova Grotte, after 70km of racing. Eurosport on-bike reporter Bradley Wiggins reported that he had seen Porte throwing up while riding, adding that Porte shouted "gastro" to him, indicating that he was suffering from stomach issues.
The 37-year-old, who is set to retire at the end of the season, shot to prominence at his debut Giro d'Italia in 2010 when he wore the maglia rosa for three days, finished seventh overall and won the youth classification. He was racing his fourth and final Giro as a super-domestique for race leader Richard Carapaz.
"We can confirm Richie Porte has abandoned the Giro d'Italia during stage 19 due to sickness," Ineos Grenadiers announced on Twitter.
"This is Richie’s last Grand Tour, and we are gutted not to be taking him to Verona, or to have him on the road tomorrow," the team later added.
Porte's abandon left Carapaz down one key helper for the final summit finishes of the Giro. It continued an unlucky start to stage 19 for Ineos Grenadiers, after climber Pavel Sivakov crashed earlier in the day. However, Carapaz still finished the day holding his three second advantage on the overall to Bora-Hansgrohe leader Jai Hindley, with one last mountain stage now remaining on Saturday before Sunday's Verona time trial.
While the final chapter of the 2022 Giro d'Italia is still to play out, the one on Porte's Grand Tour career is now complete.
"It’s been a hell of a journey, from his first #Giro as a neo pro - where he wore the maglia rosa for three days - to the iconic climbing support he gave to Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome across numerous Tour de France wins; a Tour de France podium of his own; and so much more," said Ineos Grenadiers.
"There’s still lots of racing to come from Richie in this, his final season, but for now: here’s to a sparkling Grand Tour career. Cheers, Richie."
