Alberto Contador abandons Tour de France through illness
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 10/07/16 6:01pm
Alberto Contador has abandoned the Tour de France due to illness.
The 33-year-old Spaniard quit the race with 100km remaining on Sunday's ninth stage after developing a fever the previous night.
Contador had been the third favourite for overall victory but crashed twice in the opening two stages and had subsequently fallen to 3min 12sec adrift of race leader Chris Froome.
He went on the attack early on stage nine but tired quickly and was soon reeled back in by the peloton.
Contador later made several trips back to his team car and eventually decided to quit on the day's second climb.
He said: "I couldn't continue. This morning I was feverish after the crash in the first day, I really didn't feel well and it pushed me to make this decision. I must have medical checks to see what's wrong to try and recuperate for the rest of the season."
Contador won the Tour in 2007 and 2009 but has now abandoned the race in two of the past three years, having quit in 2014 after breaking his leg on stage 10.
He is now likely to shift his attention to winning the Vuelta a Espana, which takes place from August 20 to September 11.
He could also target the hilly Olympic Games road race on August 6.
