Approximately one-third of the squads in this Giro d'Italia reached the last rest day with all their riders still in the race. From today Cofidis is no longer part of this group, as their sprinter Milan Fretin, who finished 2nd in the tumultuous Naples stage behind Kaden Groves, withdraws. This is the official communication: "By mutual agreement with the team, Milan won't start tomorrow. After fifteen very intense days in his first grand tour of his career, he'll focus on recovery and upcoming commitments."

Another sprinter sparing himself the extremely tough third week is Paul Magnier, who also stood on the podium behind Groves and Fretin in Naples: a similar message on social media, time to rest after a large portion of a truly exhausting corsa rosa. For Soudal Quick-Step, he's the second rider to abandon, after Landa’s crash on the opening day in Albania.

The Belgian from the French team and the Frenchman from the Belgian team (a curious nationality crossover) will not participate in the two remaining stages suitable for them: the Morbegno-Cesano Maderno on Thursday and the last stage in Rome on Sunday. These are the 16th and 17th withdrawals overall: pending any further news, there are currently 167 riders still in the race.