Mathieu van der Poel has to deal with a swollen eye after insect attack on Hautacam

Mathieu van der Poel ventured along with the large breakaway (52 riders) on stage 12, but dropped out quickly when the roads became too steep for the Dutchman. However steep gradients weren't the greatest obstacle of the day for Van der Poel who showed up with a swollen eye at the start of time trial the following day.

His father Adrie van der Poel explained what had happened on NOS program De Avondetappe. "He just sent a photo; his eye is a bit swollen. I think this is the first time he's had something like this. It's better not to have it, but there are worse things than a sting from a wasp or a bee."

It's not good news if the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider wishes to pursue the Green jersey in the remainder of the race. He still needs to overcome a gap of 58 points to catch up to leader Jonathan Milan, and that means a lot more breakaway action, even in mountain stages. A difficult task completely fit, let alone after two weeks of racing with impaired vision...