Contador abandons Tour on Stage 9
Alberto Contador has abandoned the Tour de France. The two-time Tour winner, one of the pre-race favourites, climbed into the Tinkoff team car with 100 kilometres of the 184.5km ninth stage between Vielha Val d'Aran and Andorre Arcalis.
The Spaniard had been suffering with injuries suffered in crashes on stages one and two, and his team said he had awoken with a fever on Sunday morning.
Contador, who won the Tour in 2007 and 2009, had lost time in the general classification battle in the wake of his injuries.
As Chris Froome moved into the yellow jersey with victory on Saturday's stage eight, Contador conceded a further one minute and 41 seconds to drop to 20th in general classification, three minutes and 12 seconds down.