It isn’t the first week of the Giro d’Italia that Michael Woods wanted. The rider from Ottawa started the event with stage-win ambitions. He debuted at the race in 2017. In 2018, he came frustratingly close to snagging his first Grand Tour stage win, but finished second to Tim Wellens. The victories came later at the Vuelta a España (2018 and 2020) and the Tour de France (2023). A Giro stage remained a major goal for Woods so that he’d have a win from every Grand Tour.
The rider’s preparation for the Giro wasn’t great. He admitted as much ahead of the start. Illness affected him this spring, keeping him out of the Ardennes classics. His plan was to ride into form at the Giro. Woods kept to that plan during the first four stages, even riding Stage 2, with its final up Santuario di Oropa, relatively conservatively considering the punchy climber’s skills.
Then on Stage 5, more bad luck struck Woods. With about 26 km left in the stage, he was in a crash with a group of riders that included Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) and fellow Israel-Premier Tech teammate Nadav Raisberg. (Riley Pickrell of IPT also had a crash previously.) Woods got scraped up pretty badly. After the stage, the team revealed that while Woods didn’t sustain any fractures, he had “road rash and contusions on his right side, knee, elbow and back.” The day ended with Raisberg abandoning the Giro with a broken hand, and Woods and Pickrell waiting to see how things would look in the morning.
The news for Woods wasn’t good. Overnight, the rider presented symptoms of a mild concussion. The team made the decision that he should leave the race, head home and recover fully. “I’m really disappointed to leave the Giro d’Italia,” Woods said in a statement, “but I have to prioritize my health. There are many more opportunities to come this season and I’m motivated for them.”
Sad news this morning with @rusty_woods unable to start @giroditalia stage 6 😢
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘰 𝘥’𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦… pic.twitter.com/fCKkfygwPk
— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) May 9, 2024
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…