Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has abandoned the Vuelta a España, with the former world champion not taking to the start of Wednesday's stage 11.
Pedersen has been a shadow of his usual self in the race so far and raised question marks over his continued presence after finishing fifth-from-last on Tuesday's stage 10.
Despite indicating his desire to see the race through to the end, the decision has now been taken to withdraw.
"Unfortunately, Mads Pedersen will not take the start of today’s stage 11 of La Vuelta," read a statement from the Lidl-Trek team.
"After battling illness over the past few days, Mads will now focus on making a full recovery before turning his attention to his remaining targets this season."
Read more
Speaking to Eurosport after stage 10, Pedersen acknowledged that the illness he'd been struggling with was "a little bit" to blame, but indicated it wasn't the full story, and that he didn't fully understand the reasons for his struggles.
"I don’t really know what to say. The level is not there right now – not the shape, the shape good is good enough, but something is clearly not as it should be," he said.
Pedersen, who won the road race world title in 2019, is now looking ahead to the UCI Road World Championships, with the road race taking place in Montréal on September 27.
On Tuesday, Pedersen voiced his belief that fighting through to the end of the 21st and final Vuelta stage in Granada would be the best preparation for Worlds, but also heavily suggested that might not be the decision that would ultimately be made.
"It’s more than one guy who has to take this decision. In the end we will see. Of course I would like to keep going in the race but also it has to make sense at one point," he said on Tuesday.
Pedersen placed second on stage 8 and fourth on stage 2 but was more than 10 minutes down on stage 10, which might have been a chance for victory at the height of his powers.
For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.
