Doull’s World Tour Debut Delayed Due To Stomach Bug

Owain Doull will have to wait to make his World Tour debut with Team Sky after being forced to pull out of the Tour Down Under which starts Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Welshman had to withdraw from Sunday’s People’s Choice Classic in Adelaide with a stomach problem.

And that has now forced Doull to miss the six-day race when he was set to join fellow Cardiff-born riders Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe.

Sky have flown in Kenny Elissonde to Adelaide from Brisbane – where he was training with Chris Froome – to replace Olympic team pursuit champ Doull.

Doull’s next stage race opportunity could be the Herald Sun Tour in Australia when Froome will defend his title.

The Tour Down Under starts Tuesday with a 145km stage from Unley to Lyndoch with a sprint finish set to decide the winner.

Thomas will make his 2017 stage race bow at the Tour Down Under having blown the cobwebs away on Sunday.

But his thoughts are already turning to the opening Grand Tour of the season – may’s Giro d’Italia – when he will be bidding for victory.

Thomas has been handed team leader status with Spain’s Mikel Landa for the three week race having normally played a support role for Froome at the Tour de France.

The Monaco-based rider, speaking to cyclingnews.com, said: “For the Giro, I’m looking forward to it. It’s a new challenge and a totally different programme. It’s exciting.

“For sure going into the Giro you’ll know when you’re sat on the bus that one guy is better or more likely to get the result but you can’t say that until the end of April.

“Leadership, I think that it will sort itself out during the race, to be fair. A lot can happen in the first half of the race.

“Then you’ve got a long TT and then you’re in the final week.

“We’re both different riders on the climbs but saying that I think we can both use each other. If he’s going up the road I can sit back and vice versa.

“It’s a bit up in the air but I think that we can play off each other. We just have to be honest with each other.”