John Degenkolb and Giacomo Nizzolo will not be lining up at the start of Milan-San Remo on March 17 for Trek-Segafredo and will be replaced by Kiel Reijnen and Boy van Poppel.
Degenkolb, a former winner of the race in 2015, abandoned Paris-Nice with bronchitis after stage five with the hope he would recover in time for the first monument this weekend. However, the German sprinter is still suffering from the illness and today announced he would not be well enough to race Saturday.
“It is with a heavy heart I have to cancel my start at Milan-San Remo as I am still fighting this sickness and wouldn’t be fit for the Primavera,” confirmed Degenkolb. “I am feeling already better in the last days and will be back on my bike soon. So, no worries for the rest of the classics season. I wish my team the best for Saturday.”
Giacomo Nizzolo pulled out of Tirreno-Adriatico during stage four suffering from anterior knee pain. The team decided to take quick action and treatment on the knee in the likelihood it would have Nizzolo ready for Milan-San Remo, but with the knee still not at one hundred percent, the tough decision was made not to jeopardise the rest of the season.
“I am very, very disappointed that I cannot start Milan-San Remo,” said Nizzolo. “It was the biggest goal for me for the first part of the season. So not to start is really sad for me. We decided not to start because the knee pain has improved but not enough, and we don’t want to take any risk for the rest of the season. It’s a long race, and it can make more damage. Now we will do everything we can to fix the problem as soon as possible and look forward. I wish all the best to my teammates, and I will be supporting them from in front of the TV.”
Trek-Segafredo lineup for Milan-San Remo:
Jasper Stuyven (BEL)
Fabio Felline (ITA)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Boy van Poppel (NED)
Kiel Reijnen (USA
Ryan Mullen (IRL)
Gregory Rast (SUI)
