Giacomo Nizzolo abandons Giro d’Italia after string of sprint misses

This article originally appeared on Velo News

There’s one less sprinter at the Giro d’Italia.

Israel-Premier Tech confirmed Saturday morning that Giacomo Nizzolo would not start stage 14 after a string of sprint misses.

“Giacomo has not been feeling 100 percent in the second week of the race and has lacked his normal level of power which has been particularly apparent in the sprint stages,” read a press note.

“In consultation with Giacomo, the decision has been made to withdraw him from the race to identify any underlying problems and prioritize his recovery ahead of the second half of the season.”

Nizzolo has been largely out of the frame in the four sprint finishes so far.

Third on the podium on stage 5 in Messina was the one time the Italian speedster hit the mark in a sprint field largely dominated by Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ).

"I'm disappointed to leave the Giro d'Italia as it's one of my favorite races and I came here with a lot of motivation to win. I started the race well and felt good in the first week but in the past week, I have lacked my normal power and just haven't had the legs I would normally have,” Nizzolo said.

“The guys have worked really hard for me so I want to thank them for everything and also the staff and, of course, [race organizers] RCS. I really hope the team can finish the race off with a good result next week."

Nizzolo joins Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) as one of the A-star sprinters to abandon the Giro in recent days.

The remaining fast-finishers now have a battery of mountain stages to suffer through before their final chance to charge on stage 18 next week.

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