Today's very long 249km stage of the Giro d'Italia has been a veru fast affair that has already claimed several victims. Previous race leader Michael Matthews didn't take the start while his teammate Luke Durbridge andFabian Wegmann have also all abandoned the race.

The Giro d'Italia is starting to take its toll and today's 11th stage has seen the withdrawal of four riders, mostly due to crashes. Already yesterday evening it came out that previous race leader Michael Matthews decided to leave the race to concentrate on his recovery from his crash in stage 9.

Matthews enjoyed avery successful start to the race, wearing the maglia rosa from the 3rd to the 8th stage and winning the 6th stage with the coveted jersey on his shoulders. However, he went down in a crash the day before the rest day and even though he did well to sprint to third yesterday, his team has decided that it is better for him to head home to prepare for his Tour de France debut

"After consulting with our medical staff, we have decided that it was the most prudent decision to take Michael out of the Giro," a team statement read. "He fought hard to get a result today and it was extremely impressive, knowing that he had a lot of pain after his crash the day before yesterday. He has a substantial contusion and is generally quite bruised, so everything taken into consideration, it was the right thing to do. 

"He’s had a huge break-through here winning a stage and carrying the pink jersey and he has definitely also learned a lot. The team has worked hard for him and we’re all proud to have been able to bring a young talent this far in his first Giro d’Italia. This year’s Giro has given us unforgettable moments already, but the race is still long and we’re going to work hard to try and get more success in the second part."

The team had more bad luck during the race as Luke Durbridge went down in a crash on the descent from the first climb and left the race with a suspected broken collarbone. The Australian, already weakened by illness, had targeted tomorrow's time trial. His team is now down to just 5 riders.

Earlier in the stage Fabian Wegmann was involved in an unrelated crash and the German was unable to continue. He tried for a few kilometres before stepping into an ambulance and is now in the hospital to get checked. Hence, Garmin are now left with only 6 riders.