Team Milram's Mirko Celestino was one of four riders who pulled out of the Tour de France on Sunday. Breakaway riders Rik Verbrugghe and David Canada came down in a crash with 40 kilometres to go and left the race to get necessary medical treatment while Celestino and Magnus Bäckstedt also called it a day before the finish.
The team said that general fatigue was the reason. "Mirko had not recovered from the efforts of the previous days and has had to raise the white flag. His physical condition was good and on the rise before the start, but evidently it was not sufficient to meet the demands of the Tour de France. He crashed during Paris-Nice and his resulting lack of racing meant that his recovery wasn't as good as it might have been."
