Egan Bernal struggling in the Grand Colombier pass, during the 15th stage of the Tour de France, September 13, 2020. -
Christophe Ena / AP / SIPA
Egan Bernal throws in the towel.
In distress for several days, the Colombian, winner of the Tour de France last year, will not start the 17th stage this Wednesday between Grenoble and the Col de la Loze.
The Ineos Grenadiers team officially announced the retirement of its leader early in the morning.
Egan Bernal has withdrawn from the Tour de France ahead of stage 17.
- INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) September 16, 2020
“We made this decision in his best interest.
Egan is a real champion, who loves racing, but he is also a young rider who still has a lot of great laps ahead of him and we feel it is wiser for him to say stop, ”commented the boss of the team, Dave Brailsford.
"It was not how I imagined my Tour to end, of course, but it is the best decision for me under the circumstances", added the person concerned in the press release.
Bernal had been dragging his sentence for several days now.
Affected in the back, he also had severe pain in his knee.
Dropped on Tuesday from the first slopes, in the company of the sprinters, the Colombian was only a shadow of himself.
He occupied 16th place in the general classification, more than 19 minutes behind Primoz Roglic.
Egan Bernal
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Tour de France
Abandonment
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