Cian Uijtdebroeks has suffered a recurrence of the numb feelings in his legs that saw him leave last year's Vuelta a España and call a premature end to his racing season.
The Belgian was last week racing Tirreno-Adriatico but stepped off the bike and out of the race after 60km of Sunday's closing sprint stage.
Uijtdebroeks, who is racing his second season with Visma-Lease A Bike, was dropped from the peloton as Ineos Grenadiers pushed the pace on the hills early on the closing 147km stage, later abandoning the race from 33rd place.
He later told Het Laatste Nieuws that he was suffering from the same problem that plagued him last year.
"I had it again for the first time this year. It didn't work. That just sucks," 21-year-old Uijtdebroeks said. "There's not much I can do about it. We have to investigate this with the medical staff because I thought I was done with it. It really sucks that it's coming back."
Uijtdebroeks was emotional after leaving the race early but said that he was able to put things in perspective after speaking with his team.
He called his inability to perform as he had aimed for – finishing 46th on Saturday's queen stage – "frustrating" but said that he's confident that he and his team can find a solution.
"The effort made me emotional, but I was able to put everything in perspective and discuss it with the staff. There is no reason to panic," he said.
"[Stage 6] was just frustrating. If you, as a top athlete, can't do what you train so much for, it feels very bad. But we will find the solution and then good times will come again. I'm not worried about that."
Uijtdebroeks said he wasn't sure what is causing the problem to crop up while adding that there may be changes to his planned racing programme – he is next due to race at the Settimana Coppi e Bartali (March 25-29) – as a result of the injury.
"From tomorrow, we will search more extensively. The symptoms were similar to those of the back, but I don't know how or what yet. We have to wait and see," he said.
"It's possible that [programme] changes will follow. There is no point in racing with a body that isn't ready."
