start of the ninth stage without Primoz Roglic or Mathieu van der Poel

The Slovenian Primoz Roglic, second in the Grande Boucle in 2020, abandons the Tour de France 2021, announced on Sunday July 4 in the morning his Jumbo team.

“There is no point in continuing like this”, said the Slovenian, quoted by his team. Falling during the third stage of the Tour de France and relegated to nearly forty minutes from the yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar after the arrival on Saturday at Le Grand-Bornand, Primoz Roglic explains wanting “Recover and [se] focus on new goals ” :

“I tried to be focused on the present moment, to go through the days one after the other, but after a few days I saw that it was getting me nowhere. “

The former ski jumper announced at the start of the year that his main objectives for the season were the Tour de France and the road race of the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled for July 24.

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“I am very disappointed to have to leave the Tour but I have to accept it (…). I remain optimistic and look to the future ”, continued Primoz Roglic, who spoke of his painful journey since his fall, which occurred about ten kilometers from the finish in Pontivy (Morbihan).

“I didn’t think this fall would cause me to quit. I never look that far. After a few days, I saw that I was not making any progress in my recovery. Even though I surprised myself in the time trial, I still had a bad feeling the following days. The long and difficult stages take their toll. I will now focus on recovery. “

After his crash, Roglic limited the damage in the time trial on Wednesday at Laval, where he conceded only 44 seconds to Pogacar. But he paid the price for his injuries, multiple bruises, in the long stage (249 kilometers) leading to Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire) on Friday, before finishing very late, in the “gruppetto”. After eight stages, he occupied the 51e place of the general classification.

Van der Poel also gives up

The Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel has also given up on taking the start of the ninth stage in Cluses (Haute-Savoie). Van der Poel, yellow jersey for six days this week, also has in mind the appointment of the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8), just after the Tour which ends on July 18.

The Dutchman chooses to focus on recovery in order to preserve his chances after his thunderous debut on the Grande Boucle. “We made the decision this morning with the team [Alpecin], he declared while arriving at the departure area of ​​Cluses. In Tokyo, the 26-year-old will be aiming for Olympic gold in the cross-country mountain biking event.

“We decided that it was in my interest to stop the race and concentrate on the Olympics”, added the grandson of Raymond Poulidor, who announced on Saturday, after losing the yellow jersey, that he would wait for the day of rest scheduled for Monday to decide.

“We knew it would be difficult for me. I have other goals. Because of the pandemic, it was impossible for me to do the entire Tour and be in top form for Tokyo ”, explained Van der Poel who promised: “I had an amazing week. I will be back next year to go to Paris. “

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The World with AFP