Mike Woods out of Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race with bronchitis
Ottawa native won Stage 3 of last year's event, wore leader's jersey
A bout of bronchitis has forced Canadian rider Michael Woods out of the Tirreno-Adriatico race in Italy.
A spokesman for the Israel-Start-Up Nation team confirmed the illness has sidelined the 34-year-old from Ottawa from the 56th edition of the race, which starts Wednesday and runs through next Tuesday.
Woods is now focusing on the Ardennes Classics, the Tour de France and the Tokyo Olympics.
On Sept. 9, 2020, he won Stage 3 of the Tirreno-Adriatico and took the overall lead.
Woods left the EF Pro Cycling team at the end of 2020 to join Israel Start-Up Nation, which is co-owned by Canadian-Israeli entrepreneur Sylvan Adams.
He has performed well in the past at the three Ardennes races: the Amstel Gold Race (April 18 in the Netherlands), La Fleche Wallonne (April 21, Belgium) and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 25, Belgium).
Woods finished second at the 2018 Liege-Bastogne-Liege and third at the 2020 Fleche Wallonne.
