Dygert abandons Tour, day after making time cut by 11 seconds on Madeleine

Chloé Dygert went deep on the Col de la Madeleine to finish inside the time limit by just eleven seconds on stage 8 of the Tour de France Femmes. 

The American had ridden prominently in support of her Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto leader Kasia Niewiadoma earlier on the Alpine stage, but the final climb turned into an ordeal as she battle to avoid elimination from the Tour.

Dygert rode up the Madeleine alone, crossing the line 128th on the stage, 45:18 down on winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike), but crucially, inside the time limit by eleven seconds.

The depth of Dygert’s distress was visible as she crossed the line and sat on the roadside in tears. She received treatment for pain in her left leg, a residue of the injuries suffered in her career-threatening crash in the time trial at the World Championships in Imola in 2020.

Dygert sustained a severe laceration to her left leg in that crash, which caused last damaging to her quadriceps.

The scene atop the Col de la Madeleine mirrored that at the end of the World Championships road race in Zurich last year, when Dygert could be seen clutching her left leg in distress after sprinting to the silver medal behind Lotte Kopecky.

“It’s just how my leg is,” Dygert said in Zurich. “It is something I am going to have to live with. “It spasms when it is cold, when it is wet. There is really nothing you can do. There is no blood flow, it doesn’t recover. I have to live with it and keep pushing forward.

“There are definitely moments where I am like, ‘I don’t know if I can keep going.’ It is just something I have to push through. I know I have been told several times I’m not really doing damage, but the pain is an 11 out of ten. I’ve to be tough and just push through.”

Update: Chloé Dygert announced on Sunday morning that should would not take to the start of the final stage of the Tour de France Femmes.

In a heartfelt post to social media, Dygert stated, "One of my biggest weaknesses is not knowing when to stop. Not knowing when enough is enough. That's what always gets me into trouble."

"My accident... I didn't think I was winning by enough, and that's why I pushed that corner. Why I get injured so much... I don't ever think the pain hurts enough to stop until I physically can't do it anymore. Until someone tells me to stop, I won't," Dygert added.

"But I have learned over time with my leg that once the pain reaches a certain point, the only option is to stop. As hard as it is to not start today's stage, I can be content with the decision for that reason."

Dygert's team leader, Niewiadoma, sits 4th in the GC, 3:40 behind race leader Ferrand-Prévot but only 22 seconds behind Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), who currently occupies the third and final step of the podium. However, the loss of the American will only make things more difficult for the Polish champion.