Olympic hope Pedersen pulls out of Tour de France

PARIS: Former world champion Mads Pedersen pulled out of the Tour de France “to focus on other goals” ahead of stage eight on Saturday having failed to shake off a shoulder injury.

A specialist in the long, arduous one-day races Pedersen is one of the favourites to win the Olympic road race in Paris in four weeks.

The Dane fell heavily on a shoulder during the mass sprint on Wednesday in which Mark Cavendish won his historic 35th Tour de France stage.

“The range of movement in his left shoulder has worsened, making it almost impossible to handle the bike,” his Lidl-Trek team explained.