Placed 5th overall, the French rider, Thibaut Pinot decided to abandon the Tour de France 2019. A difficult time for the rider.
The Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, one of the contenders for the final victory in the Tour de France, was in big trouble Friday from the first slopes of the 19th stage of the Tour de France, very mountainous, between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Tignes.
😢 It’s over for Thibaut Pinot who suffers too much. Extremely sad.
😢 C’est fini pour @ThibautPinot qui souffre trop pour continuer. Un moment très difficile pour lui et son équipe.#TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/qr7Bab0iPk
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) 26 July 2019
Pinot, who was in the 5 th place in the morning at 1:50 of the Julian Alaphilippe yellow jersey, had to be treated several times in the knee area, possibly with a muscular injury, and was almost three minutes away from the group. leaders 90 km from the finish.
In tears after an hour of racing
The French rider, in tears, stopped after an hour of racing, about thirty kilometres after the departure of Saint-Jean-Maurienne.
Last year, Thibaut Pinot had a similar misadventure at the end of the Giro which he held the 3rd place in the morning of the penultimate stage.
At the beginning of the stage, Pinot was treated in the thigh. A bandage was put to him but the leader of the Groupama – FDJ team had to let the peloton leave.
Relegated to the back of the race, Pinot was comforted by his teammate William Bonnet before dismounting and riding in the back of his team car.
Did he hit his bike? Has muscle pain woken up? No explanation has yet been given on this surprise abandonment, which deprives the Frenchman of a possible podium, even of a possible final victory Sunday in Paris.
Dominator in the Pyrenees, brilliant winner of the 14th stage at the top of the Tourmalet, Thibaut Pinot occupied Friday morning the 5th place in the standings, 1 min 50 sec Julian Alaphilippe but only 20 seconds of the Colombian dolphin Egan Bernal.
