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Alex Dowsett abandons Tour de France on stage 12

British time trial champion abandons after failing to recover from crash on cobbled stage four

British time trial champion Alex Dowsett has abandoned the Tour de France on stage 12, after being unable to recover from the effects of his crash on stage four.

Dowsett, 26, was one of ten Brits to start this year’s race in Utrecht – his debut Tour – and finished 13th in the individual time trial.

Alex Dowsett finished 13th on stage one, but the effects of a crash on stage four have ultimately led to him abandoning his maiden Tour de France (pic: Sirotti)

He spent much of the first road stage pulling on the front of the second group, after his team leader’s Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde were caught behind a split.

But an innocuous crash on the cobbled stage four, which led to Dowsett receiving six stitches for a bad cut on his arm, hit the Essex man hard.

He recovered somewhat for the team time trial, setting the pace alongside Italian champion Adriano Malori on the flat sections as the Spanish team finished four seconds behind stage winners BMC Racing.

But, having only just finished inside the time cut on stage 11, Dowsett abandoned on today’s stage 12.

His team tweeted confirmation that it was related to his stage four crash, with Dowsett – who was lying in the penultimate place overall after stage 11 – joining former Rapha-Condor man Zak Dempster on the day’s DNF list.

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