Team Sky has had a lot of bad luck with illness and injury this year and there seems to be no end to their travails. The squadhave had to withdraw Peter Kennaugh from their Giro roster as the young Brit is suffering the effect of an illness, and have brought Chris Sutton in as a replacement.

Peter Kennaugh has had to withdraw from Team Sky’s 2014 Giro d’Italia line-up due to illness, and will now be replaced by Chris Sutton.

Kennaugh had been named in the initial nine-man squad but the decision was taken to withdraw him from the Giro as a result of the on-going effects from the illness which saw him pull out from Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday 27 April.

The ailment forced the Manxman to miss vital training ahead of the first Grand Tour of the season and Sutton has been called up after helping Chris Froome seal his second consecutive Tour de Romandie victory.

Head of Performance Operations Rod Ellingworth said:

“Pete was struggling before Liege-Bastogne-Liege so we told him to take time off until he was fully recovered.

“Although he has since recovered, the time he spent off the bike meant he hasn’t been able to fully recuperate and regain the condition needed to see him through a three-week Grand Tour. Instead, we’ll work with Pete to get him back to full fitness in the weeks to come.”

Kennaugh is disappointed not to be making the Giro start line in Belfast on Friday 9 May but is now focused on getting back to his best before a busy summer schedule.

“The Giro is one of my favourite races and I would have loved to have ridden it again," he said. "A lot of my friends and family were planning on coming over to Ireland for the start, and I was looking forward to racing back in Italy. This bug laid me low though and it was a tough one to shake off.

“I’m feeling better now but I’m behind on where I wanted to be and the decision to withdraw was taken after I’d chatted with the doctors and coaches. Now I’m back in training and the plan is to be competing again in a few weeks’ time.”

Sutton will now replace Kennaugh and will be competing in his third Giro d’Italia feeling fresh after making his comeback from a knee injury in Romandie. The 29 year old is a proven performer at Grand Tour level having taking a stage victory at the 2011 Vuelta a Espana, and Ellingworth believes he will have a key role to play as Team Sky look to make their mark on the race.

He said: “CJ will give us another option when it comes to the sprint finishes. He’s won Grand Tour stages in the past, and even if he’s not battling for the victories himself, he’s a good lead-out man for the likes of Ben Swift and Edvald Boasson Hagen and can play a valuable role for the team.”

Team Sky’s full 2014 Giro d’Italia line up is as follows:

Edvald Boasson Hagen, Dario Cataldo, Philip Deignan, Bernhard Eisel, Sebastian Henao, Salvatore Puccio, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Ben Swift and Chris Sutton.