Romain Bardet will miss Thursday's Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge due to injuries sustained in a crash at Route d'Occitanie. His AG2R La Mondiale team announced that he will return next week at the Criterium du Dauphiné for the Tour de France.

"Romain Bardet will miss tomorrow's CIC Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge after crashing on the second stage of the Route d'Occitanie and bruising his left elbow. No substitution will be made," AG2R said in a statement Wednesday. 'He will take part in the start of the Criterium du Dauphiné.'

Despite his crash, Bardet finished eighth in Monday's stage 3 summit finish on the Col de Beyle, 1:18 behind stage winner and final overall winner Egan Bernal (Team Ineos), and in Tuesday's fourth and final stage, AG2R teammate and stage winner Benoit Cosnefrois, finishing 17th.

Bardet told French media on Tuesday that he has been suffering since the crash. Initially he was worried about his left knee, but now he said he is more worried about his left arm.

"My race stopped on the first day," Bardet told L'Equipe. 'The pain is so bad I don't even know if I can continue racing.'

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue."

"Tomorrow [Wednesday] I will take care of myself by taking X-rays," he said, adding that his arm is particularly painful and even holding the handlebars is difficult.

Bardet's bruised arm forced him to withdraw from the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge, where he finished second the year before, but he will return for the Criterium du Dauphiné (August 12-16), the final race before the Tour de France begins in Nice on August 29. He is scheduled to.

"The Tour is still a few weeks away," Bardet said Tuesday.