Romain Bardet forced out of the Tour after suffering Brain Haemorrhage

Romain Bardet suffered a small haemorrhage following a concussion that forced him to pull out of the Tour de France on Stage 13. Bauke Mollema fractures wrist.

“An MRI in the morning revealed has confirmed a small haemorrhage following the concussion,” Bardet said on Social Media.

The 29-year-old crashed with 87km in the 13th stage, getting back on his bike despite a bout of dizziness and lost 2:30 to overall leader Primoz Roglic, slipping down to 11th on the standings from fourth.

His AG2R La Mondiale team announced that he was pulling out after he was taken for an emergency scan that showed he had suffered a concussion.

Tour de France chief doctor Florence Pommerie said the nature of the sport made it almost impossible to detect a concussion on the spot.

“You’re always a bit dizzy when you crash at 40 or 80kph,” she told reporters. “We didn’t prevent him from racing because he was showing no clinical signs of a concussion.”

Team manager Vincent Lavenu said that the 2016 Tour runner-up showed the first signs of a concussion after the stage.

“In the car that took us to Clermont from the Puy Mary) he asked us to stop and he vomited. We already had a scan but we went straight to the hospital,” he said.

Mollema abandons Tour de France after fracturing wrist in Stage 13 crash

During the 13th Stage of the Tour de France, Trek-Segafredo co-leader Bauke Mollema was involved in a crash that also involved AG2R La Mondiale leader Romain Bardet.

Initially he was transported to the race ambulance, then move to a helicopter to be airlifted to Clermont Ferrand Hospital where he underwent X-rays that confirmed a suspected broken left wrist.

How It Happened

Well placed in the general classification that morning (4th at 30 seconds from the yellow Primoz Roglic jersey), Bardet fell on the 13th stage of the Grande Boucle, just after a feeding zone, while the traffic was dense in the peloton. His entire team stopped by the side of the road to inquire about his state of health.

Assisted by a gendarme who positioned himself at his height, the Frenchman tried to get up. Stunned by the shock he received when he fell off his bike, Bardet failed to stand up. Helped by his teammates, he finally got back on his bike.

Distanced by the fall with the Colombian Nairo Quintana, Romain Bardet managed to make the junction with the peloton without too much difficulty. 

"We're going to bite the bullet, we know Romain's mind," commented Julien Jurdie, his sports director. The fall occurred at more than 45 km / h, it's not trivial. Romain immediately wanted to get up, he must have suffered a small drop in blood pressure. The diagnosis is complicated to make, he consulted the Tour doctor. He complains of the hip. For the moment, he is in the peloton surrounded by his team. 'we're going to be able to wage war in the finale. "