Romain Bardet Pulls Out of Tour de France Due to Concussion
The Puy Mary—the Category 1 climb at the end of Stage 13 of the Tour de France—proved to be the last thing two of the host nation’s top hopes will see of this year’s race.
France’s Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) started the day in fourth just 30 seconds off the lead in a region where his grandmother lives, but his luck ran out with a heavy fall that subsequently forced him our of this year’s Tour with a concussion.
Bardet, who was King of the Mountains last year and has twice finished on the podium at the Tour, ended Friday’s stage 11th overall and three minutes off pace after crashing alongside Bauke Mollema.
Sign up for Bicycling All Access and become a stronger, healthier cyclist 🚵♀️
“The fall was violent, downhill, and I struggled all day,” said Bardet, who was France’s best hope of an overall winner after Thibaut Pinot’s dramatic Stage 8 meltdown.
“The medical examinations confirmed what I was expecting and I am unable to continue the race.”
Dutchman Mollema, who started the day 13th in the general classification, was forced to retire from the Tour after falling hard 100 kilometres into Friday’s 191.5km stage 13 between Chatel-Guyon and Puy Mary.
Last year's Tour of Lombardy winner, Mollema, 33, was flown by helicopter to hospital in Clermont-Ferrand for an X-ray that confirmed the suspected fracture.
Mollema’s teammate Richie Porte had a better day, moving up to ninth in the general classification after finishing just behind the Tour’s Slovenian front runners Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar.
The other remaining home hope for France, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), faded on the penultimate climb after starting the day third. He ended the day just below Bardet back 3 minutes and 14 seconds.
With no cars allowed on the Puy Mary climb, thousands of fans hiked to the summit to greet the riders on another day of blockbuster crowds.
The holder of the green jersey, Irishman Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), and the vastly experienced Peter Sagan will likely renew their struggle for sprint points on Saturday's 194km run over five small hills between Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon.
You Might Also Like
