Groupama-FDJ hit with double blow one week before the Tour: David Gaudu ruled out, Stefan Küng crashes

"Stefan was the victim of a crash during training and will not compete in the Swiss National Championships today (Thursday, ed.)," Groupama-FDJ shared on social media. He will also skip Sunday’s road race. Whether this will affect his participation in the Tour de France is still uncertain.

One rider who definitely won’t be at the Tour is Gaudu. "Given my current form, I’ve been transparent with the team. They have all my numbers and data, and based on that, we made the mutual decision to skip the Tour this year," the Breton rider told AFP. Gaudu had already delivered a mediocre performance in the Giro d’Italia.

"To commit to the Tour, over three intense weeks, you need to be 100% all-in. Despite all the efforts I’ve made since the Giro, I haven’t been able to find the energy needed for an event like this," Gaudu added on social media.

"We had an open and honest discussion within the team, and we made the tough call: I’ll be skipping the 2025 edition. Sometimes you have to step back to come back stronger. That’s exactly what we’re doing. I’m resetting and preparing for the second half of the season, with my eye on the Vuelta."

Another confirmed non-starter for the Tour is Benoît Cosnefroy of Decathlon AG2R. The Frenchman had only recently returned after a long recovery from a knee issue but crashed again during the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland.

Cosnefroy suffered a bruised knee, which will now keep the native of Normandy out of both the French national championships and the Tour de France, where he had hoped to chase stage wins in the punchy stages in his home region.

Another rider impacted by a crash is Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X, who is now training outdoors again. The Norwegian broke his collarbone in the first stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour and is currently in a race against time to recover in time for the Tour start in Lille.