Michael Woods doesn’t start Stage 19 of the Tour to prepare for Olympic Games

The day after Wout Poels’ and Michael Woods’ King of the Mountains battle ended with race leader Tadej Pogačar winning it almost by accident, the Canadian withdrew from the Tour de France to concentrate his efforts on the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. Woods will tackle the men’s road race on July 23.

Woods was in 27th place when he abandoned, which would have been his third best Grand Tour result if he’d kept it. It’s the first time he did not finish a Grand Tour. Woods is also Israel Start-up Nation’s first dropout of the 108th edition.

Woods’ GC hopes were dashed on the first day of the Tour when a crash saw him finish almost 9:00 after stage winner Julian Alaphilippe. Woods refocused on the polka dot jersey competition, pulling on the unique kit after Stage 14. Rusty wore the dots for one stage. He also came third on Stage 8.

Astana-Premier Tech’s Angel “Superman” Lopez also didn’t start in order to prepare to represent Colombia in Tokyo.