Megan Armitage has missed out on riding the Giro d'Italia, which started today, after she fell ill just before the race began with the opening TT in Brescia.
The EF Education-Cannondale rider was missed out on the Tour de France last season after crashing just before the race was due to begin, and now she has sadly suffered more bad luck before what should have been her Grand Tour debut today.
It is really unfortunate for the Irish rider, though she is in the first year of a three-year contract with ED Education-Cannondale and she should have plenty of time to ride a Grand Tour.
Armitage's team released a brief statement saying the Irish rider would miss out on starting the Giro because she was ill.
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"Megan Armitage will not race the Giro d’Italia due to illness," the team said. "We are not bringing in a reserve rider to replace her. Please join us in sending Megan our best wishes."
The fact Armitage is not in the race means Ireland had no riders on the start line, with the stage today won by Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek).
The Italian claimed the win by just one second, after 15.7km of TT racing, from Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ) with Brodie Chapman (Lidl-Trek) 3rd at 13 seconds.
