South Australian Rohan dennis to miss Tour due to viral meningitis

SOUTH Australian gun rider Rohan Dennis has today been ruled out of the Tour Down Under after contracting viral meningitis.

Rohan Dennis

SOUTH Australian gun rider Rohan Dennis has today been ruled out of the Tour Down Under after contracting viral meningitis.

Dennis, 22, was to make his WorldTour debut with his new team, Garmin Sharp, at the Tour Down Under's prologue this afternoon at Adelaide's East End.

However blood tests have confirmed Dennis has contracted the virus after the young South Australian last week complained about being lethargic.

The 2012 under-23 national road and time trial champion won the mountains and young rider classification at last year's Tour Down Under, where he finished fifth overall riding for UniSA.

"I started having symptoms on Monday. It started with a bit of an itchy throat and a bit of a blocked nose," Dennis told The Australian.

"I thought it was nothing more than hay fever and it would just go away."

Dennis has been told to rest for at least seven days before having another blood test to see whether the virus is out of the system.

Dennis was tipped to be Garmin Sharp's team leader in a team dominated by Australians including Nathan Haas, Steele von Hoff and David Morton.