Even though Michele Scarponi’s ambitions for a decent result in the 2014 Giro d’Italia general classification were crushed in the mass-crash at the bottom of the Montecassino climb last Thursday, the 34-year old Italian still hoped to support younger Astana team-mate Fabio Aru after he was elevated to the leadership role in the Italian grand tour. However, injuries sustained in the accident turned out to be more painful than it was initially expected and Scarponi seriously considers withdrawal from the home three-week event.

Suffering Scarponi had hard times yesterday, during the longest stage of the Giro d’Italia, negotiated by the speeding peloton in a truly furious pace. According to Italian media, after consultations with team medical staff, the 34-year old Astana rider decided to ride today’s time trial but will decide his future in the race shortly afterwards, as he is expected to support Vincenzo Nibali at the Tour de France.

“It’s very bad, hurts more than I expected it would.”

“Tomorrow I’ll do the time trial, and then we’re going to decide what to do after talking with the team and assessing the situation. I wanted to try to bounce back and become a protagonist in the final week, but I have to evaluate whether it’s going to affect the Tour de France [preparations],” Scarponi explained, according to Spaziociclismo.