DSM-FIRMENICH POSTNL AND BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS FACE MAJOR SET BACKS AND LOSE KEY RIDERS IN THE GIRO

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL and Bahrain Victorious faced a significant setback on day four of the Giro d'Italia. Bram Welten, an important member of Fabio Jakobsen and Tobias Lund Andresen's sprint train on flat stages, fell ill on Monday evening and felt too unwell to start on Tuesday. Jakobsen didn't really get a chance to sprint, but still saw some positive signs after a challenging day.

Welten completed the third stage but woke up on Tuesday morning with a fever and a cold. The team decided not to let him start. Welten had already lost a total of forty minutes in the first two stages. This Giro was his first grand tour. Following Simon Carr's withdrawal on Monday, Welten was the second rider to drop out of this year's Giro. "It was unfortunate that Bram had to withdraw. There was nothing more we could do, but it's a big loss for our team," said team director Matt Winston in a press release from dsm-firmenich PostNL.

The Dutch team is competing in this Giro with Jakobsen and Romain Bardet as their leaders, but things haven't been going smoothly. Bardet has already lost considerable time in the general classification, and Jakobsen hadn't been able to sprint on Monday and Tuesday. "Fabio dropped on the long climb, but the guys brought him back. Unfortunately, the finish was just a bit too tough for him, although he was still there in the sprint. We just got a bit boxed in," concluded Winston.

Jakobsen later took to Instagram to express his appreciation for his lieutenants, Julius van den Berg and Gijs Leemreize, who supported him during the challenging uphill moments. "I am incredibly proud of my teammates who pulled me through. I was closer this time and it will only get better. Wednesday looks like another good chance for a sprint!" said the Dutchman, who also received a humorous comment from BORA-hansgrohe rider Ryan Mullen. "Excuse me, where's my shout-out?" joked the Irishman, who had ridden back to the peloton with the men from dsm-firmenich PostNL.

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Key Bahrain Victorious climber also withdraws from Giro

Welten wasn't the only one to drop out on Tuesday. Midway through the stage, it was reported that Torstein Traeen, one of the support riders for Damiano Caruso and Antonio Tiberi (who are tasked with leading Bahrain Victorious on the climbs), had to withdraw. He suffered a knee injury during the opening stage of the Giro. "Unfortunately, I have to withdraw because the pain became too much. It wasn’t wise to continue, so I'm going home disappointed to recover," the Norwegian said through his team's channels. This is a significant setback for the two Italian leaders, Tiberi and Caruso.

2024-05-08T13:39:00Z dg43tfdfdgfd