Mikael Cherel latest rider to abandon the Giro d'Italia as illness continues to terrorise the peloton

The seemingly endless stream of riders announcing their abandon of the Giro d'Italia can add another name to the list. Mikael Cherel has stepped off his bike on stage 12 due to a stomach illness.

In an official announcement made by the AG2R Citroen Team's Twitter account, it has been revealed. "Mikael Cherel has abandoned the Giro d'Italia," it says. "He had been suffering from stomach ache for the past 3 days."

In total 39 riders have now been forced to give up their Giro d'Italia hopes for one reason or another with notable riders such as Remco Evenepoel, Filippo Ganna, Rigoberto Uran and Tao Geoghegan Hart all sadly no longer in the race.