Astana has suffered another body blow at the Giro d'Italia with Aleksandr Vlasov forced out of the race 24 hours of Miguel Angel Lopez crashed out.
The team went into the Italian Grand Tour hoping for stage wins and a GC ride from both, with Vlasov among many people's pre-race favourites for overall victory.
However, during today's stage 2 - some 149km from Alcamo to Agrigento - Vlasov climbed off his bike and left the race.
The 24-year-old Russian has been in fantastic form this year, winning Giro dell'Emilia, Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge and a stage on Tour de La Provence, finishing 2nd overall in the latter.
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He was also 5th overall in the recent Tirreno-Adriatico and was 3rd in Il Lombardia.
It appears he was unwell today and looked like he may throw up just before he climbed in his team car and his team late confirmed he had "stomach problems".
His abandoning comes a day after Lopez suffered a freak crash in yesterday's stage 1 TT and was forced out of the race.
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