Sergio Higuita was unable to start at Tour de France due to allergies: "I have suffered this year from a lot of allergies to pollen"

Sergio Higuita was initially placed quite high on BORA - hansgrohe's longlist for Tour de France. However due to persistent allergies, the Colombian would be unable to compete to the best of his abilities and thus had to pass on this year's Grande Boucle.

"I was going to go to the Tour de France, but due to health problems I couldn't be there this year," the Colombian confirmed to the newspaper AS. "In the end I have not improved my health, I have suffered this year from a lot of allergies to pollen and there is still a lot of pollen in Europe," he explained.

"I have special treatment for what I am suffering because every year it gets worse. The treatment lasts 20 weeks and I've been there for 8, so with the team doctors we are working to try to return to competition as quickly as possible," revealed Higuita.

"They wanted to take me to the Tour, but in the end the health part weighs more, because they said, we can take you to the Tour, but what happens if there is a lot of pollen in the Basque Country because there is normally a lot of pollen there or in the Pyrenees, then they'd be taking a very big risk of having to retire me from the race and lose a rider," he explained.