Although he won his first Giro d’Italia last season, Russian rider Denis Menchov has decided not to defend his title this year.
The 31 year old Rabobank competitor was clearly strongest in Italy, but flopped badly in July when he scraped home 51st in the Tour de France.
Realising perhaps that it is a delicate balancing act to be strong in both races, he will instead do altitude training around that time.
“We had already talked but everything was decided quickly when the route of the Giro was known,” said Rabobank’s Adri Van Houwelingen in Ahoy. “The last week is very heavy, it is not good preparation for the Tour de France and that is [his] main goal.”
Also likely to be missing is Robert Gesink, according to Nos.nl. He was one of Alejandro Valverde’s biggest challengers in the Vuelta a España, but dropped out of contention for the win due to a bad crash.
As outlined by Nos.nl, he is scheduled to ride the Amstel Gold Classic, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. His Tour de France form will be honed by the Tour de Suisse.