Mikel Landa has described his disappointment at having to abandon the Giro d'Italia due to illness but has set his sights on a quick recovery.

The Spanish rider, who was leading Team Sky at the Giro, became ill overnight and, despite believing that he would get through stage ten in Italy, was distanced early on by the peloton before the decision was made for him to abandon the race.

Landa said: "I was unwell in the night but I felt a little better this morning, so I was determined to make it through today's stage.

"But I realised early on that I had not recovered and that I would not be able to continue.

"It's a big disappointment for me, not just because I was in a good position in the race but because of everything we had done as a team to prepare for this Giro.

"I want to say thank you to the team for all their hard work for me and also to those who have sent me messages of support.

"I want to recover quickly so I can come back with some new targets for this season."

Speaking after the race, Sport Director Dario Cioni said: "Mikel was suffering from stomach problems during the night but none of us, Mikel included, thought it would affect him to the extent that it did.

"He was really struggling out there on the road and it was obvious that he had to stop. 

"It's a huge disappointment. We were really confident that Mikel was in a good place and was in a great position on the GC. His time trial on Sunday went well and he had lost less time than we thought he might over those first nine stages, so we were upbeat going into this next phase of racing. 

"The high mountains are his terrain and we were ready to fight for the pink jersey, so it's definitely been a difficult day."

Despite Landa's abandonment Sebastian Henao produced an impressive performance to finish in the severely reduced peloton along with a number of GC contenders.

Cioni added: "It was a tough stage for everyone. David [Lopez] and Mikel [Nieve] were with Mikel and that put them out of the game, so it was up to Sebastian, Nico [Roche] and Christian [Knees] to keep riding for us. 

"When you lose your team leader it's a big shock so it was great to see those guys riding so well. Sebastian put in a really good performance to finish with the GC contenders."