Thibaut Pinot abandons the Vuelta a España due to back pain
The 30-year-old Frenchman pulled out of the race prior Thursady’s third stage, with his Groupama-FDJ team citing lingering back pain he is still experiencing nearly two months after crashing at the Tour de France.
Pinot rolled into this year’s Tour back in August in strong form following his second place finish at the Critérium du Dauphiné, but he crashed heavily on the opening day of the race. Although he continued on at the Tour, it became clear on the eighth stage of the race that the injuries he sustained in the crash were affecting him as he finished over 23 minutes behind the main GC group on the day.
After completing the Tour, Pinot arrived at the Vuelta in uncertain condition, with Groupama-FDJ backing David Gaudu as co-leader. Pinot lost nearly 10 minutes on the first stage and more than 15 on stage 2.
From there, it was decided that he would not continue at the Spanish Grand Tour.
“Despite the rest period he observed, the two first stages of the Vuelta have shown Thibaut Pinot continues to suffer from the back pain he experienced after his crash on the Tour de France,” Groupama-FDJ said in a statement.
“With regard to the next season, priority is given to his complete recovery: He will not take the start of the third stage and will no longer compete in 2020.”
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