Chris Harper, pictured on stage 10 before the crash that has ruled him out of the Tour de France Dario Belingher/Getty Images
July 16, 2026 Updated 10:04 pm EDT
Australian climber Chris Harper has pulled out of the Tour de France after losing part of his thumb in a crash on Tuesday’s stage 10.
The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider fell near the top of the descent of the Puy Marie, with his team leader Tom Pidcock falling in the same incident. While Pidcock was able to continue without difficulty, Harper was forced to stop and await treatment for his heavily bleeding thumb.
Harper remounted his bike and finished the stage, almost 33 minutes behind Tadej Pogacar, but the 31-year-old was not able to start the following day’s stage from Vichy to Nevers.
Though predominantly at the race as climbing support for Pidcock, Harper was also expected to challenge for mountain stage wins in the breakaway, having won the Queen stage of last year’s Giro d’Italia.
“Pulling out of any bike race sucks but hurts a bit more to pull out of the biggest one of them all,” he wrote on Instagram, posting a photo of his mangled thumb.
“Thanks to the team for the support and fingers crossed for a quick recovery and back into some racing for the second part of the season. On a positive note think I’m now 10g lighter #marginalgains.”
After Harper’s crash, several riders complained about the road surface, which had been daubed with whitewash in efforts to lower the temperature of the tarmac.
“I don’t know what they do to the roads here when they are cleaned, but they put that white s**t over them,” said Pidcock. “And that is very slippery.”
Stage 11 winner Soren Waerenskjold also went down in a similar incident, commenting: “I had a swollen leg and my fingers were hurting a bit — it was a bit more skin off my fingers than I’m used to when crashing, so it was painful, but ok after a while.”
The Tour continues on Thursday with another sprint stage from the Magny-Cours racetrack to Chalon-sur-Saône. Pogacar leads the general classification ahead of Jonas Vingegaard by three minutes and 36 seconds.
Jul 17, 2026
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