Team Sunweb have had to make a late change to their line-up for Saturday’s Milan-San Remo after Warren Barguil was ruled out due to an ankle injury sustained at Paris-Nice. Danish rider Søren Kragh Andersen will now start instead.
The French rider has been in good form this season having finished in 8th place overall at Paris-Nice and 12th overall at Vuelta a Andalucia and would have provided good support for the team’s leader Michael Matthews.
Team Physician Anko Boelens explained: “Warren has developed an ankle injury, possibly tendinitis of the peroneus muscle, during Paris-Nice. We are taking him out of Milano-Sanremo to undertake further testing and to make sure that the injury does not get worse. A couple of days off the bike will give the injury the necessary time to recover and Warren should be able to resume training after that.”
Barguil said: “It’s a huge disappointment for me to have to pull out of Milano-Sanremo and that I won’t be able to contribute to the team goal and help Michael in the finale. It’s the most wise thing to do to ensure that my injury doesn’t get worse and I wish the guys the best of luck on Saturday.”
“Unfortunately we will miss Warren on Saturday,” said Team Sunweb coach Aike Visbeek. “With Søren we have a good replacement considering his ability to survive hills and the way he can position his team mates. He gave us a good demonstration of his capability in Tirreno and he adds extra max-speed to the team meaning that our plans don’t change much.”
