More bad luck for the reigning World Champion as Lampre-NGC confirm that Alessandro Ballan will be absent from the team’s Giro d’Italia line-up next month.
Ballan has already missed out on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, two of the races the classics specialist favors.
Now the Italian will have to miss the 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia due to a virus that has kept him from gaining the form he needs to compete.
Many times in the past pro cyclists have faced bad luck in the year they win the coveted rainbow jersey. British rider Tom Simpson, Irishman Stephen Roche, Frenchman Luc Leblanc and Spaniard Oscar Freire have all had injury problems causing them to spin wheels during their reign as World Champion.
But before you get to caught up in the “Curse of the Rainbow Jersey”, one must note that Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond all won the Tour de France as World Champion, and Paolo Bettini recently had two successful seasons in a row while donning his WC stripes.