Definitely … Mathieu van der Poel threw in the towel in the Tour de France, this Sunday morning, in Cluses, before the start of the ninth stage, announced the organizers of the event. The Dutchman, grandson of Raymond Poulidor, wore the yellow jersey for six days on his Tour debut. He lost it on Saturday in the first mountain stage.
Another leading rider, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, also gave up on continuing the race due to the after-effects of his fall from the third stage. After the arrival of the 8th stage in Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), van der Poel had indicated that he would make a decision on a possible retirement on Monday, during the rest day.
The Dutchman from the Alpecin team has anticipated his retirement in view of the Tokyo Olympics, where he will go hunting for the gold medal in the cross-country mountain biking event.