The cruelty of the Tour de France continued on Friday when Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) suffered a severe crash midway through stage 13 to Le Puy Marie.

After finishing the stage in 11th place, three minutes out of fourth overall, 30 seconds behind race leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma), the AG2R La Mondiale team announced that the Frenchman would not be able to continue the race due to concussion suffered in the crash

"The Frenchman has been ruled out of the race.

"Romain suffers from concussion, and because of the strength and signs, our medical team had him undergo a brain scan at the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand," AG2R team doctor Eric Bouva said Friday night. [The scan did not reveal any lesions. However, Romain Bardet will have to stop his sporting activities and will not be able to start tomorrow's stage."

"The date for resuming competition will be determined by the progress [of the injury]."

Bardet crashed on the descent from an unclassified climb between the Pass Steele and the Côte de l'Estiade with about 90 km remaining in the 191.8 km stage through his home region. He went down with Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and it took him a while to get going again.

Benoit Cosnefrois, Bardet's teammate and leader in the mountains class, expressed concern for Bardet in a post-race interview, "He was in a lot of pain. He looked in a lot of pain."

He said. [Some notable riders, such as Tom Boonen, Chris Horner, and Toms Skuzins, finished the race while clearly affected by concussion.

Most teams have protocols in place to prevent riders with concussions from continuing in the race. It is unclear how Bardet was evaluated after his crash.

The French rider said in a team press release that the crash was the opposite of what he had hoped for.

"This stage was the opposite of what I wanted. The falls were hard, it was downhill, and I suffered all day. The medical tests confirmed what I was feeling and I can't continue racing. I know my teammates will do their best to finish the Tour de France with a good performance."

Director Vincent Lavene said, "It is sad to see Romain leave us on his own path, at home, on a stage where he dreamed of shining. He once again showed admirable courage and fought like a lion until the end of the stage.

"We will fight even harder to honor him with a polka dot jersey to defend and a stage win to aim for. We wish him all the best and hope he comes back even stronger soon."