Strade Bianche looses another contender as DSM remove Romain Bardet from lineup

After Tom Pidcock, Tom Dumoulin and Lennard Kämna have been announced to miss Strade Bianche, Romain Bardet joins the list as he came down with sickness.

"We're excited for Strade Bianche which is a unique race in a beautiful part of Italy. With several rolling climbs combined with short and punchy efforts, plus the numerous gravel sections, it is always a hard day out in the saddle for the peloton. We go to the race with a team looking for opportunities, where we will ride together as a unit and race aggressively, aiming to bring our key riders into the front for the crucial moments so that we can save as much energy for the hard final back to Siena," said Matt Winston, coach at Team DSM.

It is unclear what exactly was the situation but the team informed that Romain Bardet had come down with sickness and was replaced by Nikias Arndt. Without the Frenchman the team is effectively going into the race without a leader, and should struggle to be at the head of affairs despite the modest startlist in comparison to other years.

Team DSM for Strade Bianche: Nikias Arndt, Romain Combaud, Marco Brenner, Chris Hamilton, Leon Heinschke, Martijn Tusveld and Joris Nieuwenhuis.