Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans has withdrawn from the Tour de France after failing to start Wednesday’s 17th stage in the treacherous Pyrenees Mountains.
The Orica-GreenEDGE rider failed to overcome injuries sustained on day one of the Tour’s controversial opening weekend in the United Kingdom, where he collided with British cyclist Mark Cavendish nearly two weeks ago.
“Obviously it’s disappointing not to complete the Tour de France and make it to Paris,” Gerrans said in a statement published on the Orcia-GreenEDGE website.
“But with the injuries I have from stage one I think the best decision is actually to stop now and completely recover.
Gerrans remarkably battled through a further 2800km over another 15 stages before pulling out ahead of the opening Pyrenees stage along the boarder to Spain.
“I know I haven’t been 100 per cent right since my crash but I was hoping to improve throughout the race. That hasn’t really been the case so I have been putting on a brave face and doing what I can each day.”
“I have some big goals in the second half of the season and if I am going to perform to meet these objectives I really need to make sure my health is 100 per cent right.”
The 34-year-old Gerrans claimed the yellow jersey twice at last year’s Tour and was expected to challenge for line honours on multiple occasions this time around, but only managed a fifth and seventh placed finish and struggled to 73rd overall before calling it a day.
Leading up to the Tour, Gerrans had claimed victory at January’s Tour Down Under and April’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April.
“The only way Simon Gerrans is going to regain his full fitness, his full health, is to go home and have a rest,” Orcia-GreenEDG’s sport director Matt White said.
“He is not going to recover finishing off these last few days.”
Photo: Eric Feferberg/Getty Images
