August 28/20 10:15 am - Duchesne Has to Give Up Tour Spot

Posted by Editoress on 08/28/20
 

Antoine Duchesne has had to relinquish his spot on FDJ's Tour de France squad due to mononucleosis. It would have been his second time racing at the Tour.

In an interview with RCS [Radio-Canada Sports], Duchesne said, "The pill is very hard to swallow. I've worked really hard over the past few months to make my place in the team. It was really not easy because there are guys who have been there for a long time. To go on the Tour with the objective of winning it [with the leader Thibaut Pinot, Ed] with a French team, in French soil, it's still a lot of pressure just to make the selection. It's a very big blow for me to learn all that."

Duchesne pulled out of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Stage 4 [August 15th] due to fatigue, but said that he did not suspect mono. It is a bitter blow after missing most of last season due to iliac artery surgery.

With the loss of Duchesne, Hugo Houle is now the only Canadian in this year's Tour.

See the RCS story Here.