Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard will miss the rest of season as he continues his recovery from a broken collarbone sustained in this year's race.
On stage 15, the 29-year-old Visma-Lease a Bike rider was tackling a tight right-hand bend off a roundabout when his front wheel slid out, causing him to land on his shoulder.
The injury required surgery and ruled the Dane out of challenging for a third Tour victory, with Tadej Pogacar going on to win a record equalling fifth yellow jersey.
Vingegaard will be absent from September's UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, Canada, when Pogacar will go for a third straight world title.
"After a long and intense racing period, a recovery period was planned after the Tour de France anyway," Vingegaard said.
"Due to the collarbone injury, the start of my training has been delayed and it is not possible for me to get back to top level in the coming period.
"The focus is on preparing optimally for the goals of the 2027 season. I will discuss these specific goals with the team in the coming period."
Vingegaard won the Giro d'Italia earlier this season to become only the eighth male rider to win all three Grand Tours - the Tour, Giro and Vuelta a Espana.
His crash came on the day that Remco Evenepoel criticised the "inhuman" nature of the doping tests carried out in the early hours that morning at the Tour, with Vingegaard woken at 02:00 and Pogacar at 05:00 local time for tests.
Marc Reef, Visma-Lease a Bike's head of racing, indicated that the number of race days that Vingegaard had already completed in 2026 played a factor in the decision to end his season.
"As announced at the start of the season, we would take stock of the remaining part of the season after the Tour de France," he added.
"After a busy period with many days of racing and the collarbone fracture Jonas sustained in the Tour de France, it is best for him to focus on 2027.
"Together with Jonas, we will look at the right training build-up and goals for the new year over the coming weeks."
