Last year's winner Tadej Pogacar will not start in the Belgian cycling classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège (LBL) on Sunday.
This was announced by his team UAE Emirates.
The 23-year-old returned to his native Slovenia on Thursday to support his partner Urska Zigart after the death of her mother.
“Unfortunately, I won't be starting at Liège-Bastogne-Liège to defend my title.
The last few days have been very tough, but I want to thank everyone for their understanding," wrote the Slovenian in a post on Instagram and Twitter on Saturday.
He particularly thanks his team around team boss Mauro Gianetti.
After finishing 18th in his first LBL appearance in 2019, Pogacar had finished third on the podium in 2020 before winning the Spring Classic in 2021.
On Wednesday, the two-time winner of the Tour de France finished twelfth at Fleche Wallonne.
At the Tour of Flanders in early April, he was terribly upset about his fourth place after miscalculating the finish line.