Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) has withdrawn from the Tour de Suisse just a day after finishing 5th in the opening time trial in Bellinzona. The Italian climber did not start stage 2, citing illness.
“[Pozzovivo] suffered yesterday from digestive disorders with fever that prevented him from eating correctly and sleeping,” read a statement issued by the Ag2r La Mondiale team on Sunday morning.
“These symptoms were still present this morning. Too weak, he was not able to take the start of this stage.”
Pozzovivo finished 19 seconds down on winner Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and just three seconds behind Fabian Cancellara (Trek) in Saturday’s 9.4km time trial in Bellinzona, which included a short climb.
Pozzovivo lined up at the Tour de Suisse hoping to add to his haul of WorldTour points, having finished in 5th place overall at the recent Giro d’Italia, his best-ever showing in a three-week stage race. He is not scheduled to ride the Tour de France.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that one of Ag2r-La Mondiale’s planned leaders for the Tour, Carlos Betancur, will miss the race due to illness. He did not return to Europe from a long stint in Colombia in time for the Tour de Suisse, and his mentor Franco Gini later said that he is suffering from cytomegalovirus.
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