More rest-day drama: Trentin withdraws from the Tour de France and Alpecin-Premier Tech face problems

The Tour de France will start after the rest day with one rider fewer. Just before the start of the tenth stage, Tudor announced that Matteo Trentin was withdrawing. The 36-year-old Italian had fallen ill during the rest day and will not be racing anymore. He is not the only one who experienced problems during the break, as is evident at Alpecin-Premier Tech.

Trentin started as Tudor’s road captain for his ninth Tour de France. He hadn’t achieved any results himself yet, but his experience made him a valuable asset to the Swiss team. However, he has since fallen ill. “Unfortunately, Matteo Trentin developed a fever last night and will not be able to start the tenth stage of the Tour de France,” according to a press release.

Trentin had a strong spring and was a mainstay on the Tour de France roster. The experienced Italian has already won three stages in the Tour de France: one in 2013, one in 2014, and one in 2019. Those glory days are long behind him, but his departure from the Tour de France will be a blow to Tudor, who could have really used his experience.

Alpecin-Premier Tech also ran into some problems during the rest day. Silvan Dillier, road captain of Van der Poel's team, gave fans a peek into his hotel room via Instagram. No luxury here: it was a small room, with a mini-kitchen and a bathroom “that could use some renovation,” according to the Swiss rider. It was sweltering again in the Cantal, and Dillier and his roommate Tim Marsman didn’t have air conditioning in their room.

That’s why the Belgian team set up an air conditioner in the room. Marsman was fine with it, but Dillier couldn’t stand it. The former Swiss champion couldn’t sleep because of the noise the unit made, so he decided to put his mattress on the balcony. “A night under the stars” did him a world of good compared to the other option. Let’s hope it doesn’t make him sick...

At Uno-X Mobility, it was even worse. The Norwegian team had to deal with a lack of air conditioning, pests, and cobwebs at the hotel. Tobias and Halland Anders Johannessen therefore also chose to sleep outside.