The 2026 Tour de France started on Saturday 4 July, with 184 riders grouped into 23 teams setting off from Barcelona to contest the greatest bike race on the globe. Over the next three weeks, these riders will race along a route that’s 3,320km (2,063.4 miles) long, tackling almost 50,000 metres of ascent in the process.
But not everyone will make it to the streets of Paris to ride around the Montmartre circuit.
Nine riders have so far left the race, with the latest being Matteo Trentin from Tudor Pro Cycling, who did not start stage 10, with the team – who have already lost Arvid de Kleijn – explaining he was suffering from a fever.
The big news last week was that Torstein Træen had been forced to abandon after his yellow jersey dream came to a disastrous end on Col du Tourmalet during stage six, with a crash leaving the Uno-X Mobility rider injured and in pain, with what turned out to be multiple fractured ribs. The Norwegian, who had already lost his GC lead to an imperious Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), managed to finish the stage, but withdrew before the start of stage seven.
Movistar's Cian Uijtdebroeks bailed on Thursday, while Bert Van Lerberghe (Soudal–Quick-Step) and Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) also failed to finish stage six.
Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) being the. The Dutchman collided with a hay bale in the chaotic final kilometres of stage five, which saw a pile up just before the safety zone on the approach to the finish line in Pau. Tour debutant Molenaar cleared a UCI concussion protocol – despite later admitting that he couldn't remember the crash – and finished in second-to-last place, but an x-ray showed he had sustained a fracture of the metacarpal in his right hand, and he didn't start stage six.
We might not have seen the almost Hunger Games-rate of attrition that was on show at the Giro d’Italia this year, but there haven’t been any massive crashes so far - beyond bingles during the team time trial, and a stack on stage three that left Visma-Lease a Bike domestique Bruno Armirail with an injured knee and affected Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Netcompany-Ineos riders Tobias Foss, Thymen Arensman, and Michał Kwiatkowski.
But as the Tour goes on, and the mercury keeps creeping north in the south of France – to the point where spectators were told to stay away from certain sections due to the strain being placed on emergency services dealing with wildfires – some riders are beginning to fail and bail, before they can be caught by the broomwagon.
Clément Berthet from Groupama-FDJ United was the first to fall, with the climber failing to start stage two, withdrawing from the race after sustaining an injury in a crash with teammate Guillaume Martin halfway through the 19.6km time trial on day one.
Lotto-Intermarché’s Arnaud De Lie was the next to throw the towel in. While young Mexican sensation Isaac del Toro nailed a near-perfect ride to take victory on stage two, De Lie visibly struggled with illness throughout the day and finished last. As the route passed from Spain into France on long-and-lumpy stage three, amid a heatwave, it was no surprise to see the 24-year-old Belgian sprinter withdrawing from the race, although he soldiered on to within 10km of the finish line.
On stage four, when Mads Pedersen from Lidl-Trek sprinted to victory and fellow Scandinavian Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) grabbed the yellow jersey, Kelland O'Brien from Jayco AlUla was unable to cope with the heat, and crossed the line a few minutes after the imposed cut-off, meaning he is out of the race.
Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) came off the worst in a crash on stage five of the Tour in Pau, suffering concussion, which forced him to abandon. The next day, Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) abandoned the race early on stage six, after struggling at the Tour previously.
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Riders who have abandoned the 2026 Tour de France
- Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United) – DNS stage 2 after crashing on stage 1
- Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) – Abandoned during stage 3 with illness
- Kelland O'Brien (Jayco AlUla) – Missed cut-off on stage 4
- Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) – DNS stage 6 after crashing on stage 5
- Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) – DNF stage 6
- Bert Van Lerberghe (Soudal–Quick-Step) – DNF stage 6
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) – DNF stage 6
- Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) - DNS stage 7 after crashing on stage 6
- Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro) – DNS stage 10 due to illness
