'My last stand' - Bryan Coquard abandons Tour de France after completing mountain time trial with a broken finger

The Peyragudes mountain time trial at the Tour de France has barely run its course, but one man is already confident that the 10.9km test against the clock was his final day on the race.

Cofidis sprinter Bryan Coquard is the rider in question, the veteran heading home this evening after recording a 152nd place in the stage 13 time trial.

A day earlier, on stage 12 to Hautacam, the 33-year-old limped to the finish minutes inside the time cut, having suffered a broken right ring finger after grabbing a feed musette.

He completed the mountain stage despite being unable to brake with his right hand, and soldiered on to complete Friday's time trial, too.

"We tried to immobilise it as much as possible so that it would work for today. It's a climb, so there's not too much risk. It will certainly be my last stand. I will certainly not be able to take the start tomorrow," Coquard told L'Equipe ahead of the time trial, which saw him tackle the climb with a bandaged hand and finger.

Coquard will undergo surgery in the coming days, his Cofidis team announced. After the time trial, he called his Tour de France one "with many twists and turns," but a lot of support, and an adventure which ends with two determined rides.

"Yesterday, my legs were back, and I was determined to finish the Tour de France in style. I rode 90km alone to be on time and be able to get on the radio," he said.

"I wanted to do this time trial no matter what. The specialist we consulted this morning told us that there was a risk of displacement. Ideally, you should have an operation within ten days.

"Continuing the Tour would have meant a lot of suffering and an additional risk for the hand. It would have been a risk for me and for the peloton, too. It's time for me to withdraw. But I'm already starting to think about my return. And I hope my story with the Tour de France isn't over."

Coquard, racing his eighth Tour de France, comes away from the race with a seventh place in Laval as his best result, but also a couple of bad memories from the opening weekend.

Back on stage 3, he collided with Jasper Philipsen, inadvertently sending the Belgian crashing to the floor and out of the race, later receiving a yellow card for the incident.

Later on, while racing to the finish of the same stage, he was caught up behind a crash in the sprint for the line, somersaulting over several other fallen riders.

Now, after getting caught in another unwanted collision on Thursday, his Tour will come to an end.

It's always tough for a Frenchman to leave his home race, but at least a glance at the profile for stage 14 might ease his pain – the peloton is set to tackle four mountain passes and 5,000 metres of climbing on the road to Superbagnères on Saturday.

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