As the sprints are left behind, Giacomo Nizzolo and Cees Bol abandon Giro d'Italia

It is no surprise to see the fast men starting to leave the race after stage 13, as thr Giro d'Italia steer away from the flat stages and head high into the mountains. Caleb Ewan has had an early leave, and today Giacomo Nizzolo and Cees Bol join him in a DNS.

Israel - Premier Tech have had further bad news to share from a season that is seeing their World Tour status at risk, as their leader at the Giro d'Italia Giacomo Nizzolo abandoned after not being able to take a win in the sprint stages and also struggling to get in the fight for the maglia ciclamino. "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 ahead of stage 14, which he didn't start.

With only one more opportunity for the sprinters, coming on stage 18 - which itself does not have a completely flat profile - more fast men are expected to leave the race in the coming days, as the riders enter the Alps where some brutal mountain stages await.

As for Bol, he has failed to be part of the sprints throughout the race. The news come the day after team leader Romain Bardet abandoned the race, however Team DSM did manage to capture a surprising sprint win with Alberto Dainese. Team DS Matt Winston has said that "Cees has been experiencing some fatigue in the last days and with a super tough third week, we decided together it was the best decision for him to not take the start line today."