Bagneres-de-Bigorre (France) (AFP)

What happened with Rohan Dennis? The second of the recent Tour de Suisse abandoned even before the first pass of the Pyrenees, on Thursday, in mysterious circumstances during the 12th stage of the Tour de France.

The Australian rider of the Bahrain team, former record holder of the hour, threw in the towel before Peyresourde, the first of two passes of this stage of 209.5 kilometers, while he was stirring trying to catch the morning break. His abandon seems all the more surprising as he would have been one of the big favorites of the stage against the clock of Friday, in Pau.

For long minutes, no one really understood the cause of this abandonment, nor even the sports directors of the team, unable to explain this choice.

"We are also surprised that you, we are even disappointed.In fact, we expected a great performance from him tomorrow on the clock.It was his decision to stop at the refueling area, said Gorazd Stangelj , the sports director of the Bahrain team, after the stage.

"We tried to talk to him, we looked for a solution, he told us that he did not want to talk and got in the car, I do not know more than you, I think his condition was good. and that he was fit enough to succeed on the Tour de France. (...) We will have to clarify the situation at the hotel tonight ".

This mysterious disappearance even prompted the Bahraini team to issue a statement announcing that it had launched an investigation into the causes of the abandonment and that it would not communicate until it had been completed.

According to the Italian press, it was an argument with one of the team's sports directors that led to the rider being abandoned. An Australian media journalist SBS also said on Twitter that the rider had joined the bus team, before leaving quickly without comment, accompanied by his agent and a press officer.

"When I arrived at the bus, there was a bike, it was very surprising because I knew that I was the first on the team (to pass the line) .I saw it this morning, it had I think he's sick, I do not know, "said his team-mate Dylan Teuns at the microphone of France Televisions.

Dennis (29), former record holder, won the first leg of the 2015 Tour and wore the yellow jersey. But he has completed only one of the four Tours he has run.

The Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data), injured Wednesday in a fall, also gave up during the stage.

© 2019 AFP