Cofidis lose two riders at the Tour de France in a matter of minutes

It was not to be. After winning a stage in 2023, Ion Izagirre's main goal for 2024 was to try to raise his arms again in the Grande Boucle, but in the eleventh stage he had to abandon. He and Alexis Renard were both dropped at the start of the day with the very high pace experienced in the peloton and ultimately the French team has suffered a very important blow for days to come.

The blow for the Cofidis team is double, since along with the Basque rider, Alexis Renard has come off the bike. So, 2 withdrawals in one go for the French team in just a matter of minutes - on a day where it was expected to attack the race and pursue a stage win in Le Lioran. Last year the team has had a tremendous race with a victory for Victor Lafay on the second stage in San Sebastián, whilst Izagirre himself won on the 12th stage.

Ion Izagirre arrived at the Tour with a broken rib after the Tour de Suisse. He was close to being out of the race, but finally decided with the team to go. He said a couple of days ago in an interview with AS that he felt no pain, but after the rest day it seems that his body has not reacted well and has had to put his foot down two days later on a day in which the starting pace was extremely high.

We'll see now if Izagirre rides the Vuelta a España. It hasn't been an easy year for him and trying for a win in the Spanish race could save his season. What is certain is that Cofidis' TDF is not being easy. They came from 2 victories in 2023 and now they see that things are complicated with the withdrawals of Ion and Renard.