VIDEO: Kragh Andersen quits Tour de France with possible concussion after pile-up
Soren Kragh Andersen of Denmark rides during the 5th stage of the Tour de France cycling race. File/ AFP
Soren Kragh Andersen ahd to quit the Tour de France after showing the signs of concussion following his fall from hillside in a mass crash on Friday.
While compatriots Frenchman Warren Barguil, who also was involved in the same crash, dropped out earlier before the beginning of the stage 14 in Carcassonne.
Kragh Andersen, the winner of two stages in the last edition of the cycling spectacle, got entangled in a pile-up, which featured more than 20 other riders on a gravel stretch during the 13th satge of the Tour.
"We followed Sören closely all night and decided after seeing some signs of a concussion that he is no longer fit," DSM team doctor Camille Alderschoff said in a statement.
Kragh Andersen was the last one to climb out as he got buried under the scrum of the pile. The Tour has been marred by the crashes right from the beginning of this edition and several riders had to pull out of the event.
Germany's Roger Kluge (Lotto), Briton Simon Yates and Australian Lucas Hamilton (BikeExchange) retired on Friday. The more two withdrawals on Saturday left the curtailed the number peloton to 149 from 184 riders, who had started in Brest a two weeks back.
The tour is often marred with the crashes as rider have often cried foul over the safety measures to safeguard the athletes from career-threatening injuries.
Earlier, Mark Cavendish equalled win record of stages at the Tour after his victory in the 13th stage as Tadej Pogacar retained the yellow jersey.
