Van der Poel abandons the Tour de France due to pneumonia

Bad news for Mathieu van der Poel fans. It has just been confirmed that the Dutchman will not start today and is forced to abandon the Tour de France 2025 due to pneumonia, as officially communicated by his team Alpecin-Deceuninck this Tuesday morning.

Van der Poel abandons the Tour de France 2025

"Mathieu had been experiencing cold symptoms for days," explained the team's statement. "Yesterday his discomfort worsened significantly, developing a fever in the afternoon. He was transferred to the Centre Hospitalier de Narbonne, where tests confirmed a lung infection."

After consulting with the medical team, the decision has been made for Van der Poel not to continue in the race. "His health is a priority. He needs at least a full week of rest before undergoing further tests and defining the next steps in his recovery," added the team.

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The Dutchman had already admitted to not feeling quite well before Sunday's stage. Nevertheless, he was a protagonist in the day's breakaway, although he had to drop out early. His condition did not improve during the rest day, and it has ultimately led to his withdrawal.

Despite the withdrawal, Van der Poel has had a very outstanding performance in this edition of the Tour, winning the second stage, stepping onto the podium in two others, wearing the yellow jersey, and being a protagonist of one of the wildest breakaways in recent years.

Now it remains to be seen if he will be able to recover in time to compete in the XCO World Championship scheduled for September 14th in Switzerland.