Milan - Italian rider Damiano Cunego will not take part in the Tour de France, his Lampre team said on Tuesday.
The 2004 Giro d'Italia winner was diagnosed with the Epstein Barr mononucleosis virus on June 8 and further blood tests have shown he has not recovered in time for the July 2 start of the three-week race.
"Tests carried on June 17 have shown a fall in the number of Epstein Bar Virus anti-bodies from 580 to 170 but this is still far from normal values of 0 to 20 and Cunego is still diagnosed as 'recovering'," the team said.
"As a result the Lampre-Caffita team management and medical staff have changed the Cunego's race programme and not selected him for the Tour de France."
The 23-year-old Cunego was expected to be one of the main challengers for this year's Tour.
The Lampre-Caffita team for the race will be finalised on Wednesday with Italy's Gilberto Simoni expected to replace Cunego as their leader.