After suffering up the Col de la Madeleine to make the time cut by just seven seconds on the queen stage of the Tour de France Femmes, Chloé Dygert has been forced to abandon the race due to severe pain in her left leg, as well as ongoing illness and stomach issues.
Ever since her horrific crash in the time trial at the 2020 World Championships in Imola, the American has faced continuous problems with her leg. The long and steep ascent of the Madeleine, combined with the cumulative fatigue from a tough week of racing, aggravated the issue, which caused her to suffer all the way up the climb and break down in tears once she reached the summit.
Speaking to Cyclingnews ahead of the final stage, Dygert explained her decision to abandon the race, as she said, "it's always a bummer when there's contemplations of starting or not, but when it comes to my leg, there's a clear line and once that's passed, I have to stop. With other medical problems and other things, it's fine to push through, but with my leg, there's a line and that was crossed yesterday. There's still a lot to do this season, and we can't risk it, so it's a smart decision and it's something that I can actually be content with."
When asked about her struggles on the Col de la Madeleine, she said, "When everybody started passing me like I was standing still, I thought 'there's no way I'm making time cut' and then about 10km from the top, I started having a full-on panic attack. I was crying, panicking, my leg was killing me, I couldn't hear anymore, my ears were clogged because I'm still sick, and it was not a good time."
Dygert then explained the exact problems that she has been experiencing, stating that, "I have a bit of a head cold, and then I have stomach problems with going to the bathroom multiple times a day. And then my leg, it's the normal spasming, muscle tightening, and it feels like you're being hit by something really hard.
"It just feels like that constantly, it never goes away, and it gets worse. There was just no relief going uphill for that long, so once I got to the top and I could get off my bike, it was one of the greatest feelings."
The Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto rider experienced similar problems at last year's race, where she also abandoned on the final stage due to pain in her leg, as the issue has continued to plague her ever since she returned to racing after the crash in September 2020.
"I made it a lot longer than I did last year. I had to pull out last year because of my leg. Pretty much every race I've pulled out of has been because of my leg. And again, it's not ideal, and I feel really bad that I have to do it. But when it comes to my leg, I just can't risk that," she said.
Though she was unable to complete the entire race, Dygert can certainly take positives from this Tour de France Femmes, as she looked strong throughout the race and was still able to contribute a lot to the team's efforts, working in service of their leader, Kasia Niewiadoma.
"I came here with the mindset of getting some really good training in and being a great teammate as best as I could, and I'm really happy that I could fulfill that role, so I'm happy with the Tour and I can be content with my decision today as hard as it is."
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