Richie Porte's start in the Giro d'Italia may be in question, with the Australian admitting that the illness which has recently led to his withdrawal from two World Tour events has "compromised" his preparation for the three-week race.
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Speaking from his European home in Monaco on Friday, Porte said his program hinged on talks with his Sky team principal David Brailsford and his trainer Tim Kerrison.
Porte, who has been preparing to lead the British Sky team for an all-out assault on the Giro from May 9 to June 1, has been stricken with gastroenteritis that last week forced him out of the March 12-18 Tirreno-Adriatico race in Italy with three stages remaining.
After returning to Monaco to recover, he started the seven-day Volta a Catalunya in Spain on Monday, but withdrew on Tuesday during stage two.
Asked if the illness and his time out of racing has affected his campaign for the Giro, Porte said: “It has compromised my Giro preparation. I’m not sure. I will have to make a decision with David Brailsford and Tim Kerrison.”
There is cause for Porte's start in the Giro to at least be reconsidered, with the illness costing him eight vital days of racing.
With Porte due to have only one more week long stage race before the Giro starts, there must be concern he will not have time to recover and gain the race fitness needed to compete for a podium place in the Giro – if not the win.
Porte's possible absence also begs the question of whether the 29-year-old Tasmanian and Sky would be better served by him focusing on regaining full health and rebuilding towards a peak for the Tour de France, which runs from July 5 to 27.
Porte was already due to race the Tour after the Giro, but as a helper for defending British Tour champion Chris Froome. If he now misses the Giro, he could start the Tour stronger, with more reserves and as a second general classification contender for Sky.
But to win the Tour, Sky will need their strongest team. While Froome won last year, they were stretched for manpower at times.
This is a frustrating time for Porte after starting the season so strongly with a bronze medal in the Australian road title at Buninyong, Victoria, and a stage win and fourth place overall at the Tour Down Under in South Australia.
"At Tirreno, I was close enough on overall classification after one mountain stage [4th at 34 secs] and felt I was getting better," he said.
"One moment you are plotting on how to win the next day’s stage, then next thing you are up at 4am with gastro. It’s a little bit cruel."
Porte conceded that after quitting the Tirreno-Adriatico, he should not have started the Volta a Catalunya, which finishes on Sunday.
"I came back home to Monaco, trained and thought I was not too bad," Porte said. "But in hindsight – gastro is pretty hard on your body – I probably just should have taken myself out of Catalunya. It’s disappointing to lose such a big chunk of racing but at the end of the day it's out of my control.
"There is still a long season to go ... I have some time at home now to properly recover and get my season back on track."
