Paris: Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar will not compete at the Paris Olympics after the Slovenian rider renounced the chance to go for gold due to accumulated tiredness. The Slovenian agency STA confirmed the news on Monday after Pogacar won his third Tour with a lead of over six minutes over the second place Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark just one day ago, reports Xinhua. Pogacar won six stages as he dominated the race, with his triumph made more impressive after he also won the Giro de Italia in May.

The manner of his wins and the form that Pogacar showed in the early season one-day races, which are similar to the 273-km Olympic road cycling race, meant the bronze medal winner of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was favorite to add an Olympic gold medal to his already spectacular season.

However, his agent Alex Carera explained that the fatigue that the 25-year-old has accumulated over the past three months has led him to take the decision to withdraw from the Paris Games. With Pogacar and Vingegaard both not competing in Paris, Belgian duo of Remco Evenepoel, who finished the third in the Tour de France, and Wout van Aert will be the new favorites in Paris, with Evenepoel challenging for gold in the road race and also the 32-kilometer time-trial.

(IANS)