19-year old Danny van Poppel (Vacansoleil-DCM) made headlines before the start of the race, as he was the youngest rider in post-World War history to ride the Tour de France. After two weeks, he has now decided to pull out on the second rest day.

Vacansoleil-DCM team manager Daan Luijkx said: “It won’t benefit Danny to continue. The last week is not going to teach him anything new. He has reached his goals; in fact he’s achieved more than that. He finished ahead of the gruppetto on the Mont Ventoux yesterday despite a bike and a wheel change. For a 19-year old he has performed very well. He was always here to learn, and he’s done more than his share of that.”

“Physically Danny is as tired as is normal after two weeks of the Tour de France. He may be able to reach Paris; but there are some difficult stages ahead, and therefore we prefer to protect him and work towards new goals, starting with the ENECO Tour.”

Danny van Poppel sprinted to three top-10 placings, including a third place on stage 1 which also gave him the white jersey for a day. He agrees with the assessment of the team staff: “The last week would have been tough,” van Poppel says. “We can’t forget that the Tour isn’t the only race there is. I think that my performance and the fact that I have come this far have been a pleasant surprise for many.”

Danny’s older brother Boy and their father Jean-Paul will continue the race, though: Boy as a rider and Jean-Paul as a sports director for the Vacansoleil-DCM squad.