Fabian Cancellara abandons Vuelta a España through illness

Fabian Cancellara's nightmare season continued on Monday as he was forced to abandon the Vuelta a España with a stomach illness.

The Swiss rider had made his second comeback of the year from a broken back at the Spanish race, having suffered the injury at both E3 Harelbeke and the Tour de France.

Cancellara started the stage to Malaga despite the illness but climbed off his bike before the finish, although he was reportedly already over the time limit at that point.

The Trek Factory Racing man's spring campaign was ruined by a crash 20km into E3 Harelbeke in March, breaking two vertebrae in his back and missing the entire cobbled campaign.

Then in his comeback at the Tour de France he suffered the same injury in the huge crash on stage three, which wiped out a number of riders.

Having returned for the second time in a season he could not make it past the third stage of a Grand Tour again, calling it a day after suffering for two days in the heat of southern Spain.