Jakob Fuglsang has become the first rider ever to withdraw from the Tour de France on the morning of the last day before the racing began. While some riders have been forced to abandon during the final stage, he's the first to opt out of starting the stage into Paris.
Fuglsang's team issued a brief statement confirming he would not start today as he felt unwell.
"Jakob Fuglsang won’t start today’s stage after waking up feeling unwell after yesterday’s ITT,” Astana Premier Tech said. “With Tokyo in mind, the decision has been made to prioritise his recovery.”
Fuglsang, who is one of the best classics riders of his generation, had always planned to target the road race at the Olympics. He was 2nd to Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet in Rio 2016. In good form, he would be among the fancied riders for the gold in Tokyo on July 24th.
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Many other riders have already left the Tour to prepare for the Games. However, leaving on the morning of the final stage would make no sense as the stage is so short, and because finishing the Tour in Paris is still regarded as an achievement.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Fenix) left after the first week of the Tour - during which he won a stage and wore yellow - so he could prepare for the MTB race in Tokyo. There has been a steady stream of departures since then, though the last of those riders withdrew last week.
Danish rider Fuglsang performed well below par at this Tour and has said he believes having the Covid-19 vaccine had such an impact on him he could not push himself as hard.
He strongly suspects the second dose of the vaccine greatly undermined his power output, adding the side effects would go away in time and that he and his team were waiting for that to happen.
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