Ilan Van Wilder crashes out of Tour de France on mountain descent one day from Paris

There was major disappointment for Ilan Van Wilder on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France, with the Belgian forced to abandon after crashing on the descent of the Col de la Croix de Fer.

Van Wilder was sitting 12th overall at the start of the day and while it was a very long shot to target a spot in the top 10, he now misses out on reaching Paris to finish his third Tour and to bring home some UCI points for Soudal-QuickStep.

The Belgian team have had a solid GC finish taken away, but they have had a successful Tour de France, with three stage wins from their sprinter Tim Merlier, who already abandoned the race on stage 15.

Valentin Paret-Peintre is still in the battle for the polka-dot jersey on the final day in the mountains.

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