Illness sidelined Mitch Docker on the final stage of the second week of the Giro d’Italia. Battling the same virus that caused Pieter Weening and Cameron Meyer to leave the Italian Grand Tour, Docker was forced to pull the plug mid-stage on Sunday. Ivan Santaromita, Svein Tuft and Michael Hepburn will fly the flag for the Australian outfit in the final week of the race.

“It’s certainly disappointing that we lost Mitch,” said Sport Director Matt White. “We’ve had a lot of good luck and a lot of bad luck at the Giro. We’ve seen the whole range of fortunes and emotions. As a team, we’ve experienced some very big highs and some very big lows these last two weeks.”

“Mitch really wanted to finish,” White added. “He was certainly looking forward to the third week. This virus has knocked out three of riders. We lost another three to crash related injuries. It’s disappointing to lose riders in this way.”

Whilst White contended with disappointing, Fabio Aru (Astana) experienced elation. The Sardinian soloed to a brilliant victory in Montecampione, distancing himself for the maglia rosa group three kilometres from the line of the iconic summit finish. Aru jumped up from seventh to fourth overall, 2’24 behind Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step). The Colombian maintained the maglia rosa ahead of Cadel Evans (BMC) and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo).