Mathieu van der Poel abandons before the 16th stage due to pneumonia

After losing his sprinter Jasper Philipsen, it's a new blow for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team. On the morning of the 16th stage between Montpellier and Mont Ventoux, Tuesday July 22, the Belgian training was forced to announce the abandonment of Mathieu Van der Poel. “Mathieu had shown cold symptoms in recent days. Yesterday (Monday) Afternoon, his condition deteriorated significantly. He developed signs of fever in the evening and was taken to the Narbonne hospital center for additional examinations. These revealed pneumonia. In agreement with the medical staff, it was decided that he could no longer continue the race “she wrote in a press release.

“His health is the priority”added the Belgian team, specifying that the triple winner of Paris-Roubaix and the Tour des Flanders would “rest for at least a week before spending new medical examinations”. The grandson of Raymond Poulidor had won the second stage in Boulogne-sur-Mer in front of Tadej Pogacar, and had wore the yellow jersey for four days at the start of the Tour de France. Very active during the first part of this edition, the 30 -year -old runner was even designated the most combative runner of the first week by the public, according to a consultation carried out on the social network X.

He sees his dream of victory over the last stage in Paris, with a profile that suited him in the streets of Montmartre. It is also a potential competitor for the green jersey that withdrew, since he was third in the points classification, behind Jonathan Milan and Tadej Pogacar. In the general classification, The 2023 world champion Pointed almost 1:40 of the Slovenian leader at the end of the 15th stage.