Collected photo

CHATEAUROUX, France, July 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Tadej Pogacar's Tour de France defence took a hit Sunday as his key teammate Joao Almeida threw in the towel two days after a nasty fall.

Almeida fractured a rib on stage seven in a 12-rider downhill pile up, and limped home losing around 10 minutes on the day.

After stage eight's baking run to Laval Saturday Pogacar said he had been impressed Almeida had managed to finish the day.

"But can't ask him to kill himself for a bike race," Pogacar said.

Before the fall Almeida himself was also in contention for a spot on the podium, and would have been of value in the mountainous second half of the Tour.