Romain Bardet has abandoned the Giro d'Italia due to illness. The Frenchman stopped at the 35km mark of the 13th stage from San Remo to Cuneo, and his DSM team confirmed that he began feeling unwell during the stage to Genoa the previous afternoon.

"We are sad to confirm that Romain Bardet has abandoned the Giro," Team DSM announced on social media.

"After falling ill on yesterday's stage, his condition deteriorated overnight and despite all efforts he is no longer fit to continue racing."

Bardet is in fourth place overall, 14 seconds behind Maglia Rosa's Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo).

Bardet, who won last month's Tour of the Alps, confirmed his status as one of the favorites for this Giro with a strong ride in the blockhouse on stage 9. On stage 9, the race's second summit finish, Bourdais traded acceleration with Richard Calapaz and Mikkel Landa in the Brockhaus, and won the toughest climb of the day.

The Frenchman, who made his Giro debut a year ago in Milan, finishing seventh overall, looked capable of podium finishes or even contending for the win in the remaining races this year.

"It was really difficult," he said. He started the stage yesterday and after about 10km he got sick," DSM race coach Matthew Winston said after the stage. 'We took care of him throughout the stage, keeping him cool with ice and water.'

"He slept all the way on the bus after the race. He couldn't eat anything last night. He was sick and was up all night.

"This morning there was a small chance he could finish today, but Romain is a fighter. He wanted to start the stage and he wanted to do well. But he was already in neutral and out of shape.

Winston vowed that in addition to the victory won by sprinter Alberto Dainese, the team would continue to fight for more stage wins.

"Romain was really ready and prepared really well for this race. I'm very disappointed, but we still have options. Now we are not going to give up, we are going to keep fighting and we are going to get a result in Verona."[21