Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgerohe) has been forced to abandon the Tour de France after being stung by a wasp in his mouth during the early kilometres of stage 19.
The 28-year-old Austrian rider immediately sought medical assistance from the race doctor’s car but was unable to continue in the Tour de France, despite the finish in Paris being just two days away.
Pöstlberger was taken to hospital after he had an anaphylactic reaction from the bee sting. The team doctor was confirmed to have spoken to Pöstlberger on the telephone and he was being treated and was already feeling better.
Bora-Hansgrohe has endured a difficult Tour de France. Lennard Kamna won stage 16 to Villard-de-Lans, but the German WorldTour team has been hit by injuries.
The team are still hoping Peter Sagan can take back the green points jersey from Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) but the seven-time green jersey winner is 52 points behind the Irishman with only stage 19 and stage 21 left to score points.
Sagan was penalised when he was deemed to have shoulder-charged Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in the Poitiers sprint finish on stage 11.
Emanuel Buchmann finished fourth in the 2019 Tour de France but has struggled to make an impact this year after crashing hard at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Max Schachmann suffered a broken collarbone after a driver veered onto the course in the final kilometres of Il Lombardia. He was diagnosed with a broken collarbone but was able to start the Tour de France. He has joined several attacks, including the day Kamna won but his race has been compromised.
