Big blow for Bahrain: Pello Bilbao will be absent from the 2026 Tour de France due to an illness

The Tour de France team of Bahrain - Victorious will have to swallow a bitter pill that is the absence of former sixth overall finisher Pello Bilbao. The experienced Spaniard will not present for the Grand Départ in Barcelona as a consequence of a virus contracted at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes two weeks ago.

This news is a hard blow to the Basque's plans for a final professional season as he aimed for one more stage success at Grande Boucle before retirement. And during this past spring, Bilbao definitely displayed enough quality to still be in consideration for a breakaway victory after strong rides at Itzulia Basque Country (6th overall), Liege-Bastogne-Liege (6th) or Eschborn-Frankfurt (4th).

However Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes clearly did not see Bilbao at his best with a week spent far from the center of action.

"Unfortunately, due to a viral infection picked up during the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Pello Bilbao has not recovered in time to be selected for Tour de France. Pello will now take a short period to fully recover before beginning preparations for his objectives later in the season," the team announced on X.

In July, Bahrain - Victorious will ride for one of their two young GC cards; Antonio Tiberi and Lenny Martinez. For that purpose, an experienced support team is being put together with names such as Matej Mohoric and Damiano Caruso mentioned very often. Bilbao's input would definitely be just as valuable, but now he'll have to be replaced by the team.

Bilbao's plan for the rest of the season at the moment consists of smaller appointments; Clasica San Sebastian, Circuito de Getxo and the Deutschland Tour. The Canadian one-day races in Quebec and Montreal can be expected as part of Bilbao's calendar with an eye on a possible World Championships nomination.

With the emphasis put on one-day racing, it can be assumed that the 36-year-old would skip the Vuelta a Espana, meaning that his final Grand Tour was the 2025 Giro d'Italia, rounding up his career total at 17 Grand Tour participations.