Tour de France: Mathieu Van der Poel withdraws, has pneumonia

Mathieu Van der Poel has officially withdrawn from the Tour de France. The news came directly from Alpecin in a statement. The reason? Pneumonia.

“We are sorry to announce that Mathieu Van der Poel is forced to leave the Tour de France prematurely. Mathieu had been showing symptoms of a common cold for the past few days. Yesterday afternoon, his condition began to worsen significantly. The team doctor monitored him closely throughout the day. In the evening, Mathieu developed febrile symptoms and was taken to the Centre Hospitalier de Narbonne for further investigations. Medical examinations revealed that Mathieu was suffering from pneumonia. In consultation with the medical staff, it was decided that he can no longer continue the race. His health is the top priority and rest and recovery are now essential. Mathieu will have to rest for at least one full week. After this period, he will undergo further medical examinations to assess his recovery and determine the next steps in his rehabilitation” the statement issued by Alpecin.

The Dutchman, winner of a stage and for four days in the yellow jersey, was third in the points classification, behind Jonathan Milan and the’ubiquitous Tadej Pogacar.

His retirement, in fact, means the’absence of a tough opponent for Jonathan Milan of Italy in the sprint for the aforementioned Tour de France points classification (the last Italian to take the green jersey was Alessandro Petacchi in 2010).