Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) has decided to not participate in the rest of the spring classics this season.

Instead of racing the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix he wants to prepare himself for the Giro d'Italia. Bennati had a great Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, but as he suffers from an Achilles tendon injury, the Italian rider doesn't think it would be good to start.

"I'm very sorry, because these races fascinate me and because I'd have liked to have been of help to Cancellara," Bennati told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Even on Sunday after the race we had a meeting with the heads of the team. They asked me if I was really certain that I wasn't riding [the rest of the classics]. With a heavy heart I said I was. I'll ride the Circuit de la Sarthe and the Tour of Romandie, and you'll see me at the Giro."

"Nobody is able to provide me with the certainty that the tendon wouldn't inflame as a result of the vibrations of the pave," Bennati said. "At the end of the season we’ll see if it might be a case of having some special therapy or an operation. But first they must guarantee me that the solution would be definitive."