Wegelius out with fever

By Jean-François Quénet in Riese Pio X

Liquigas was the only complete team after the gruelling stage of the Zoncolan but they had to say goodbye to one of their most generous members, Englishman Charly Wegelius, who pulled out 58 kilometres into stage 18. "I had a fever last night after the race and diarrhoea too," he told Cyclingnews. "I just couldn't keep going and it's getting even worse."

Wegelius was doing his 5th Giro d'Italia and the best of his career so far, as it's very likely that his captain Danilo DI Luca will win the overall classification. "I've worked for that and I would have been pleased to be a part of the team 'til the end, I'm very disappointed, "he said. He's still likely to attend the celebrations in Milan on Sunday, should DI Luca keep his lead after Friday's hilly stage in Trentino and Saturday's 43-km time trial from Bardolino to Verona.