Sawt Falasteen - Van der Poel drops out of Tour de France with pneumonia

Van der Poel is the top one-day rider in cycling and while he is too large physically to win a mountainous Grand Tour, he lit up the first 10 days of this 21-day slog in the first section in the north.

The 30-year-old Dutchman won stage two in Boulogne to claim the overall leader's yellow jersey and kept it until stage five.

But his heroic failure against massive odds on stage nine wrote a page of cycling folklore as his 'all or nothing at all' attitude pushed him to go for broke over 150km, being caught just 700m from the line in Chateauroux.

The 2023 world champion was taken to hospital on Monday, after cold symptoms worsened.

"Mathieu had been showing symptoms of a cold for several days, but yesterday afternoon his condition deteriorated significantly. In the evening, he developed a fever and was taken to Narbonne hospital for tests," the Belgian team said.

"Medical tests revealed that Mathieu was suffering from pneumonia. In consultation with the medical staff, it was decided that he cannot continue the race. His health is the priority."

Van der Poel won Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo in 2025 and is a multiple champion at cyclocross and mountain biking.

"This one hurts a lot," he said on Instagram after his team's announcement.

Race leader Tadej Pogacar said on Sunday he was getting over a cold that had affected half the peloton.

"It's all the ice packs against the heat and the air-conditioning," Pogacar said of the nasty cold that has dogged Tour de France riders throughout the race.

Stage 16 is a 171.5km ride starting in southern city Montpellier before a culmination atop the iconic Mont Ventoux at 1,910m altitude.

E.Aziz--SF-PST