We are within six stages of the end of the Giro d'Italia, and the hard race has taken its toll on the peloton, thinning it out. Already on stage 16, riders have been forced to abandon the race, and we might well be looking at more casualties come the end of the day.
There have been some high profile abandonments over the opening two weeks, really changing the shape of the race. These have included general classification contenders like Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Miguel Angel López (Astana-Qazaqstan), cruelly cutting their challenge for the maglia rosa short.
As the race has entered the high mountains of the final week, there has also been a steady drip of sprinters leaving the race, like Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), leaving the fast options left looking pretty lonely.
Former Giro champion Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) left on Saturday's tough stage around Torino, one of four to leave on that day.
All in all, twenty riders have abandoned the corsa rosa so far, leaving 156 in the race on stage 16. This trickle might turn into a flood in the last week, with almost 20,000 metres of climbing, although there will be a strong desire among many to make it all the way to Verona on Sunday.
Among the more unfortunate retirees was Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), who was forced out of the race after suffering an eye injury caused by the podium bottle of Prosecco. Poor Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Victorious) didn't even make it to Italy, breaking his wrist on stage three in Hungary.
As we head deeper into the Giro, some of these absences might be felt keenly by teams, especially those looking to win the race overall.
EF Education-EasyPost have been the hardest hit, with three leaving the race; this means they have just five riders left for the final few stages.
WHO’S OUT OF THE GIRO D’ITALIA 2022?
Stage one - none
Stage two - none
Stage three - Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Victorious), DNF with a broken wrist
Stage four - Miguel Angel López (Astana-Qazaqstan), DNF with a hip injury
Jakub Mareczko (Alpecin-Fenix), DNF with a cold
Stage five - Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), DNF
Stage six - none
Stage seven - Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost), DNS with illness
Michael Mørkøv (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), DNS with illness
Sergio Samitier (Movistar), DNF after crash
Samuele Zoccarato (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), DNF
Stage eight - Simon Carr (EF-Education EasyPost), DNS
Stage nine - Rüdiger Selig (Lotto Soudal), DNF
Stage ten - none
Stage 11 - Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), DNS with eye injury
Stage 12 - Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), DNS to recover for Tour de France
Stage 13 - Romain Bardet (Team DSM), DNF with illness
Stage 14 - Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech), DNS
Cees Bol (Team DSM), DNS
Alexander Krieger (Alpecin-Fenix), DNS
Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), DNF
Stage 15 - Valerio Conti (Astana-Qazaqstan), DNF with leg injury
Stage 16 - Jonathan Caceido (EF Education-EasyPost), DNS with Covid
Natnael Tesfatsion (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), DNF
