Bradley Wiggins, the winner of last year’s Tour de France, has pulled out of the Giro d’Italia due to illness, his team announced yesterday.
Sky Pro Cycling said a decision was taken to withdraw the 33-year-old before the start of the 13th stage from Busseto to Cherasco in northern Italy “due to a worsening chest infection.”
Wiggins had struggled in the race after a head cold turned into a chest infection and admitted on Thursday that he did not feel well.
Photo: EPA
Weather conditions, as well as the hilly Giro course, worked against Wiggins, who had hoped to become the first Briton to win the famous Grand Tour after his victory in France last year, but he dropped more than three minutes off the pace during Thursday’s 12th stage, struggling on a slippery descent to finish in 13th place overall, 5 minutes, 22 seconds behind the race leader, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali of Astana.
The stage was won by former world champion and former Sky rider Mark Cavendish.
“We monitored Bradley overnight and this morning we’ve withdrawn him from the Giro after consulting the team doctor,” Sky principal Dave Brailsford was quoted as saying on the team’s Web site. “Bradley will return to the UK today [Friday] for treatment and to rest, and we hope to have him back on the road as soon as possible.”
Despite going into the race without a hitch, Wiggins found the going tougher than expected.
He notably lost time in the early stages, falling on the seventh stage, and found himself unable to break free on descents made more treacherous by bad weather.
Wiggins was disappointed by being unable to regain time against the clock in the eighth stage, finishing 10 seconds behind former teammate Alex Dowsett.
As a result, he was only able to claw back a few seconds on Nibali.
Wiggins’ position became even more precarious on the hilly 10th stage where he lagged 37 seconds behind his supposed lieutenant, Colombian Rigoberto Uran.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set