Thibaut Pinot abandons Tour de France with leg injury
Frenchman Thibaut Pinot abandoned the Tour de France Friday just 40km into Stage 19 due to an unspecified issue with his left leg.
The winner of Stage 14 atop the Tourmalet, Pinot was sitting fifth overall, 1:50 behind compatriot Julian Alaphilippe, at the start of Stage 19 from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Tignes.
After the group of GC favorites rode over the first of five climbs on the stage, the Côte de St-André, Pinot dropped back to the race’s medical car, where a doctor cut off a bandage on his left leg and hastily applied a new one.
???? 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) July 26, 2019
That treatment didn’t help, however, and Pinot quickly dropped back to his Groupama-FDJ car to have it removed. He rode alone for another 10 kilometers, tears streaming down his face, before pulling off and climbing into the team car.
It was a scene reminiscent of the 2018 Giro d’Italia, when Pinot was forced to abandon the race after dropping from third overall on Stage 19 due to a high fever that was later diagnosed as pneumonia.
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