Simon Yates abandons Giro d’Italia on Stage 17 after 'knee pain grew worse and worse'

Updated 25/05/2022 at 14:45 GMT

Simon Yates has had an eventful Giro d’Italia: winning two stages, picking up a knee injury and seeing his GC aspirations go up in smoke again in Italy. Yates is now expected to target the Tour de France, assuming his injury is not severe enough to harm his preparations. Stream the Giro d'Italia live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

‘Redemption!’ – Yates wins epic Stage 14 as Carapaz takes pink jersey

Simon Yates’ topsy-turvy Giro d’Italia has come to an end after BikeExchange-Jayco announced he has withdrawn from the race.

Yates was pictured off the back on Stage 17’s run through the rainy Alps on Wednesday. He picked up a knee injury earlier in the race which derailed his GC ambitions, although he picked up a stage win either side of that crash.

"Yates’ fall on Mount Etna and subsequent knee problem weighed down on the rider for all following stages of the Giro d’Italia," said BikeExchange-Jayco doctor Matteo Beltemacchi.

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"Despite daily therapy and Simon’s tenacity, that resulted in a second stage win, the knee pain grew worse and worse, eventually leading to the decision for his retirement from the race."

Yates stormed to victory on the Stage 2 time trial but fell away in the general classification after his crash on Etna. However, he recovered to take a brilliant win on Stage 14 in the mountains.

“It’ll be a disappointment,” reacted Robbie McEwen on Eurosport commentary.

“But the biggest disappointments were falling away out of GC on Stage 9 to the Blockhaus where he lost more than 11 minutes, sustaining that knee injury on Stage 4 to Mount Etna and battling on.

“Since he’s not on GC and he’s already won a couple of stages, now is the time to play it safe and say ‘enough is enough’. Don’t compromise the rest of the season.”

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Stream the Giro d'Italia live and on-demand on discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk.

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