After starting the season with so much promise following a Stage 2 win at the Santos Tour Down Under, which led to four days in the ochre leader's jersey and an overall points title, has been plagued with a pair of race-ending crashes, including the UAE Tour in March and now the Tour de France.
The 28-year-old North Islander from Taupo became the first rider to abandon the 106th edition of Le Tour due to a pair of broken ribs suffered in as many crashes during the first week of racing. Bevin first fell on Stage 3, followed another crash the following stage where he suffered the two fractures.
CCC issued comments from Bevin on the team's website regarding his withdrawal fo the race prior to the Stage 6 start on Thursday.
“I fell on my left side and caught a wheel to the chest,” stated Bevin.
“I thought I had got away with it at the time and I didn’t have any trouble when I got back into the race, no skin off or anything like that.
“I thought it wasn’t too bad but as the stage wore on, it got worse.”
The team's chief medical officer Max Testa validated Bevin's removal from the race following X-ray results.
“Although Patrick wanted to try and race on Stage 6, this morning we collectively made the decision that he should stop racing in order to recover well and focus on his goals in the second part of the season,” said Testa.
Frenchman Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) became the second rider to abandon the race when he failed to finish the sixth stage, thus leaving 174 riders for the Stage 7 start in Belfort.
