 Preparing for the Giro d'Italia, one of the two main targets of the season, he raced the Italian one-day race Strade Bianche, the stage race Tirreno–Adriatico, where he finished in 6th position overall – conditioned by the cancellation of the queen stage – and Milan–San Remo where he tried an attack on the descent from the Poggio but was caught by the peloton.He returned to racing in April at the Giro del Trentino, where he demonstrated a bad condition and finished far from the winner Mikel Landa.The last race before the Giro was Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the most important of the Ardennes classics, concluded more than two minutes behind the winner after being distanced on the Côte de Saint Nicolas.