Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) became the first rider to abandon the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes. Having started the race after suffering from food poisoning, the Swiss star stopped to help when teammate Liane Lippert crashed with 30km to go.
While both got up to set off, Lippert looked to be in pain but Reusser seemed to be encouraging her teammate to forge on as the priority.
Then, after 20 kilometres of riding in front of the broom wagon, Reusser abandoned the race.
The race takes place from July 26 to August 3, featuring nine days of racing. The event reaches new heights with a 1,165km route that spans four regions and features a total elevation gain of 17,240 metres with major climbs over the Col de Madeleine, Col de Joux Plane, and a mountaintop finale at Châtel.
While a selection of riders will be vying for the special classification jerseys for the overall classification, mountains classification, points classification and best young rider classification, many still will be aiming for stage wins and riding in support of their team leaders.
All riders aim to finish the nine-day race, but unfortunately, the reality of bike racing is that they will face turbulence along the way that may cause them to abandon the race altogether.
Riders may abandon mid-stage after a crash or illness, climbing into a car or being taken away by ambulance instead of finishing the stage. Others will pull out overnight and not start a new stage in the morning.
Riders can also be taken out of the race by the organisation, either by finishing outside of the time limit or even being disqualified due to 'DNF' means 'did not finish', 'DNS' means 'did not start', 'OTL' means 'outside time limit' and 'DSQ' means 'disqualified'.
Here is the list of all the riders who have pulled out of this year's race so far, which we will keep updated throughout the Tour de France Femmes.
Stage 1
- Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) - illness, injury
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