Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was in deep trouble out the back of the Tour de France, on his own and losing time, with 100km of Tour de France stage 17 and then abandoned the race.
TV images showed Bennett behind the cavalcade of team cars, with the broom wagon just behind him, on a day when the attacking, aided by a tailwind, was relentless from the start.
With the eight sprinters’ stages gone, Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team) is one of the fast men who has already climbed off today, in blistering heat, with Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) also climbing off his bike on the 177.8km stage from Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Superdévoluy.
Bennett’s problems come just 24 hours after he finished 4th in the sprint that settled staged 16. However, the Irish rider notably looked tired after the stage and said his recovery was not going well.
And when he was seen dropping so far behind the race, it looked only like a matter of time before the Irish rider would abandon. He did stop and get off his bike, abandoning, as the head of the race had 99km remaining, though Bennett was already over six minutes down on his own.
His Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team released a short statement on social media, saying: “Sam Bennett retires from the race. Our sprinter, 4th yesterday in Nîmes, leaves the Tour de France on stage 17.”
More to come.
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