Italy's former pink jersey wearer Alessandro De Marchi and Spaniard Marc Soler both crashed out of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday. Movistar's Soler, who was 11th overall, fell shortly after the start of the 12th stage between Siena in Tuscany and Bagno di Romagna and was forced to stop after 50km with a sore back. De Marchi of the Israel Start-Up Nation team crashed 20km into the race and was taken away in an ambulance, but did not lose consciousness, his team confirmed. The Italian wore the pink jersey for two days but was 62nd overall. Two other riders, De Marchi's British teammate Alex Dowsett, and Swiss Gino Maeder of Bahrain also opted to pull out before going through the Tuscan city of Florence, 62km into the race. Maeder won the sixth stage at Ascoli Piceno, and his and Dowsett's exit leaves their respective teams with five riders. jm/ea/dmc