On stage 9 of the Tour de France (open in new tab), the action-packed story of the overall battle on the Marie Blanc pass, Marc Hirschi's (Team Sunweb) stunning solo breakaway, Adam Yates' (Mitchelton-Scott) yellow breakaway, and the 60km-long battle in the breakaway group packed stories came out of all over the peloton.

But there were also more heartbreaking stories, such as that of Fabio Aru (opens in new tab), as seen in the first few kilometers of the day. As rider after rider tried to jump out at the front, the Italian dropped to the back of the pack alone after only 20 kilometers of racing.

Chased by Boiteur Balai at the back of the race, Aru shook off his TV moto and kept going hard until the second of five categorized climbs, the Col de la Hourcère, a Category 1 climb, forced him to stop the race prematurely.

He was 29th overall in the morning, far from his best time to win the Vuelta a España, but he showed no sign of such a collapse on the road to Larns, where three days earlier he had attacked on Mont Aigual, and on Sunday he was joined by UAE Team Emirates (new tab) teammate Tadey Pogachar won the stage more than an hour later, Aru had no answers as to what had happened to him.

"I really don't know what is happening to me. I can't find any answers, and it makes me bitter," he said after the stage.

"I went into this Tour de France on my toes, not to go for GC, but to help Taddeusi as much as possible and maybe I'll have a chance if I get a chance.

"Going into this Tour de France, apart from a bad day in Lombardy, I had a string of encouraging performances.

Alou has suffered from an unknown illness before. After enduring a disastrous 2018 season, he was diagnosed in early 2019 with a stenosis of the iliac artery in his left leg (opening with a new tab) and later underwent surgery.

He returned to racing and finished 14th in last year's Tour de France, recording top-10 finishes in the Vuelta a Burgos and Tour de l'Ain, and fifth in the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge.

In fact, Aru said his recent training figures should be higher than the levels he has achieved in recent years.

"My training data also showed optimism that I was back in good performing condition, with my best numbers in the last three years.

"When I spoke to the team doctor yesterday, I told him I was feeling better and confident for the rest of the race. Now I'm here and stuck in a hole.

Alou lamented the setback on behalf of himself and the team, adding that his future plans are still up in the air, shortly after his race ended in a cruel way.

"I have always been an exemplary professional and have given my maximum effort. The team doesn't deserve this and I'm struggling to contribute as much as I would like."

"My future." ...... I'm not thinking about it right now. I'm still sorting through the frustrations of today."