If you’ve been watching the Tour de France, you’ll have noticed Arnaud De Lie was having a helluva time in the first three days. Unfortunately, Monday will be his last stage of the Tour.

As the former pro (sort of) and Tour de France stage winner, Mike Woods once said, “cycling is a cruel, cruel sport.” And he’s certainly right–when things are up, golden, when it’s not, it’s not very not fun.

Stage 3

The Belgian star abandoned the race during Stage 3, still struggling with the after-effects of a stomach infection. It was clear that he had been in rough shape. He had already lost 2:33 in the TTT–sure, that may have been part of the plan to be the first man out in the special format which makes everyone but the leader essentially a leadout man. But, the Lotto-Intermarché rider entered the Tour under difficult circumstances after falling ill in the days leading up to the Grand Départ.

Sickness completely screwed up his preparation. It forced him to miss key team training camps and left him below full fitness for the world’s biggest bike race. It’s hard enough at the Tour when you’ve done everything right.

Suffering from the start

De Lie got through the opening two stages but was visibly off the pace. During Stage 3, he was dropped from the peloton early and rode alone for much of the day before deciding to climb into the team car.

“This is, of course, a huge disappointment because I worked for months to be ready for the Tour and dreamed of competing in the sprint stages,” De Lie said to Het Nieuwsblad. “I gave everything in the first two stages, but today I just didn’t have the legs to continue, especially in the extreme heat.”

The 24-year-old said his priority is now to recover fully and target the remainder of the season. It marks the second Grand Tour this year that illness has forced him to leave early. He also quit the Giro d’Italia because of a virus.

Stage 3 of the Tour de France

Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar took his 22nd career Tour de France stage dub with a powerful late attack on the uphill finish at Les Angles as the race crossed from Spain into France. The Slovenian edged Jonas Vingegaard by two seconds to take the yellow jersey, although the pair remained the same on overall time.

But since Pogačar won the stage, he gets the maillot jaune. Richard Carapaz finished third, while Remco Evenepoel sits 23 seconds off the overall lead heading into Tuesday’s Pyrenean stage. Osgoode, Ont.’s Derek Gee-West, who is there to support Lidl – Trek’s Juan Ayuso, finished 67th. But we may just see him in some sneaky moves as the Tour goes on.

UAE riding well

The day before, he and teammate Del Toro–who led Pogi out on Monday–sent a statement going 1-2, as it seemed like the world champion was happy to cruise in.

There are still several weeks of racing left, so who knows what could happen. But the Slovenian has clearly shown his form is there—even if Vingegaard insists he is better than ever. A lot can happen in a Grand Tour, so expect a heated… erm, fierce rivalry. (I mean, it is ridiculously hot in Europe right now.) The battle over the next two and a half weeks should be a good one.