Matthew Wilson and Murilo Fischer (Garmin-Cervélo) stepped off their bikes today, having to abandon the Giro d'Italia due to sickness. The team is down to five riders for the last half week of the race. Tyler Farrar did not start stage five due to the death of his very close friend Wouter Weylandt and Brett Lancaster had to drop out of stage 15. The Australian suffered from the same virus problems as his compatriot Wilson.
Wilson was hopeful he could make it past the tough days when talking to VeloNation on the morning of the uphill time trial to Nevegale. "It's now just a matter of trying to get through the stages and getting better," he said. Today's 230 kilometer on another hot day proved too much for both Wilson and Fischer, who was also sick.
Wilson had spent the time in last spot, but the popular lanterne rouge spot was not on his mind. "The reason I am down in last place is because Sunday [stage 15 to Gardeccia/Val di Fassa] I couldn't eat for eight hours." A few days of rest would fix such a problem, but this is not an option for a bike racer in a Grand Tour. Today, Fischer and Wilson show up as a DNF (did not finish) in the results sheet, but it doesn't tell the tale of the struggles they had while riding sick in the mountains.
Wilson is known as a reliable domestique, but he has also had some wins in his own career. Stage wins in the Tour de l'Avenir showed his capabilities early on. He was Australian road champion in 2004 and took the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in 2007. That was the year he was with the ill-fated Unibet team. He subsequently spent two years with Team Type 1 on the domestic circuit, before Garmin picked him up in 2010.
Fischer spent many years at Liquigas, before joining Garmin in 2010. He is the current Brazilian road champion, giving him the opportunity to wear one of the nicest national champion jersey in the road races.