Cycling: The American Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) started as one of the secret favorites in the Tour de France. Yesterday the 25-year-old experienced his personal tour of suffering.
Pitbull, as Talansky is also known, fell twice in the first week of the tour and injured his back. You could see the pain resulting from the injuries yesterday. While Tny Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) was fighting for the stage win, Talansky was fighting against the time limit.
The Tour de France had already announced the American's retirement after he got off his bike and had a four-minute discussion with his sporting director Robbie Hunter on the side of the road. But then Talansky continued his journey in tears, finally reaching the finish line in Oyonnax as the last driver in the field – 32 minutes behind Gallopin and in front of the broom car.
"I did it for my teammates", according to Talansky, "after all the work they put into this tour for me." Hunter added: “As he stood on the side of the road, his emotions overcame him. I told him it's his decision whether or not he wants to quit. But I got through the situation and later regretted my exit.”
Before the start of the 12th stage, the Garmin-Sharp team will decide whether or not Talansky can continue the tour due to his state of health.
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