French rider Romain Bardet suffers ‘a small hemorrhage’ in the brain during the Tour de France

French rider Romain Bardet has revealed that he suffered “a small hemorrhage” in his brain after an accident on stage 13 of the Tour de France on Saturday (New Zealand time).

Despite being clearly stunned and falling while trying to stand up after his accident, which also involved several other riders midway through the 191.5km stage to Puy Mary, Bardet got back on his bike and continued.

Possibly France’s top contender for a first Tour victory in 35 years, Bardet was fourth overall to start the day, completing the course, finishing 27th, to drop to 11th overall.

However, the 29-year-old did not line up for Stage 14 on Sunday (NZT), and wrote on his Instagram page that he will now take a period off the bike to rest after being diagnosed with a concussion.

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“I was far from imagining yesterday afternoon that under the comforting words of @vlavenu [AG2R La Mondiale team manager Vincent Lavenu] my @letourdefrance would end abruptly, “wrote Bardet on his Instagram account.

“Since then, the headaches and nausea have not left me. The MRI scan done this morning confirmed a small hemorrhage from the concussion. With rest for an indefinite period of time, I should recover quickly. Thank you all for your messages ”.

Ironically, Stage 14 began at Bardet’s home in Clermont-Ferrand. And in a rapidly changing finish, the lead was taken and lost in waves of attacks by French team drivers and Sunweb on the roads up and down Lyon.

Every move up short and sharp climbs was quickly marked by sprint specialist Peter Sagan looking at the victory as Primoz Roglic’s yellow jersey remained safe and alert in the main peloton.

The open stage was then sealed by a decisive flurry from Soren Kragh Andersen, who was separated with three kilometers (two miles) to go, as Sunweb’s tactics proved flawless.

The Danish driver achieved the biggest victory of his career, smiling and sitting in his saddle before crossing the finish line by the Rhone River.

“I’m in awe,” Andersen said. “It’s always hard to say that I’m good enough before I’ve done it.”

On a stellar Tour for Slovenia, Luka Mezgec crossed 15 seconds later to take the sprint in second, and Simon Consonni was third.

Sagan finished fourth in a stage that aimed to close the gap in the points standings with green jersey bearer Sam Bennett.

Overall leader Roglic had a drama-free four-and-a-half hour ride to keep the yellow jersey he claimed last Sunday. The former ski jumper stayed 44 seconds ahead of fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, and 59 seconds ahead of Egan Bernal, the defending champion.

“We didn’t have to run all day, but our guys did the perfect job,” Roglic said of his Jumbo-Visma team, which includes New Zealand driver George Bennett, who finished 88th. “Luckily we had everything under control.”

The yellow jersey battle is sure to resume on Sunday. A 174.5-kilometer hike from Lyon ends with a grueling drive through Grand Colombier in the Jura Mountains, suitable for creating time gaps.

The duel between Slovenia and Colombia at the top of the general classification will be played in two category one summits before approaching an even tougher final climb that stretches for more than 17 kilometers.

– Additional reporting material