“He’ll be 100% ready for the Giro” - Michael Woods set to miss the Ardennes Classics to focus on the Giro d’Italia after recent viral infection

Having previously finished on the podium of both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in his career, Michael Woods is set to miss this year’s races due to a recent viral infection that he is still recovering from.

The Canadian rider will be aiming to be in his best shape ahead of the first Grand Tour of the season at the Giro d’Italia next month, which will be his main objective of the season. A stage win in Italy would complete the set for Woods, as he has already won stages at both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.

Speaking on a podcast for the Belgian channel RTBF, Israel-Premier Tech sports director Rik Verbrugghe explained the decision to leave Woods out of the team, as he said “he raced the Volta a Catalunya but something was wrong, so we’ve decided to leave him at home. He will not ride La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège”.

On how the team will line up for the upcoming races this week, Verbrugghe went on to say “without him, we’ll focus on backing Dylan Teuns and Stephen Williams, who could really create a surprise on the Mur de Huy. We’ll miss the presence of Michael Woods but he'll be 100% ready for the Giro”.