Former world champion Mads Pedersen pulled out of the Tour de France “to focus on other goals” ahead of stage eight on Saturday having failed to shake off a shoulder injury.
A specialist in the long, arduous one-day races Pedersen is one of the favourites to win the Olympic road race in Paris in four weeks.
The Dane fell heavily on a shoulder during the mass sprint on Wednesday in which Mark Cavendish won his historic 35th Tour de France stage.
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“The range of movement in his left shoulder has worsened, making it almost impossible to handle the bike,” his Lidl-Trek team explained.
Lidl said that withdrawing Pedersen would allow him “the proper rest and recovery needed to focus on his remaining goals this summer”.
The 2019 world champion’s loss is a heavy blow as the 28-year-old was not only capable of winning stages and would have been a great help to his team’s climber Giulio Ciccone, 13th in the overall standings.
He is only the third rider to pull out of this year’s race with 173 competitors having set off a week ago in Florence, Italy.
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