Stomach problems end tough race for Frenchman
John Gadret, who went into the Vuelta a España as one of the top riders on the Ag2r La Mondiale team, has decided with his team that he will go no further in the race.
The Frenchman won a stage and finished third overall in the 2011 Giro d’Italia and made that race plus the Vuelta his goals for this season. After finishing back in eleventh, he refocused in the hope of performing far better than that in the Spanish race.
However things didn’t work out at all as planned. Gadret’s best stage placing was thirtieth on stage three and on Sunday’s stage to Barcelona, he finished six minutes 59 seconds back in 174th place. That saw him slump to 53rd overall.
It was clear that something was amiss, and that has been confirmed today by his team. “Eric Bouvat, medical officer of the Ag2r La Mondiale Pro Cycling Team, who is present there, diagnosed some digestive problems requiring more medical examinations as soon as possible,” it said.
Nicolas Roche is best of the Ag2r La Mondiale team in seventh overall. Prior to the race he told VeloNation that the fact that he is moving teams next year meant that Ag2r La Mondiale had hoped one of the other riders would step up for GC; that hasn’t played out for the French squad.