French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni will not start the Amgen Tour of California, May 14-20, as he continues to recover from a head injury suffered at Tour de Yorkshire.
It was slated to be the 26-year-old’s first start at the week-long California race, which is part of the UCI’s WorldTour for the first time in 2017. Bouhanni is a three-time stage winner at the Giro d’Italia and a two-time stage winner at the Vuelta a España.
“[Bouhanni] has not sufficiently recovered from the crash and the head trauma that it caused,” his Cofidis team said in a statement. “Nacer’s health is the priority, and the date when he can return to racing will only be set once he has completely recovered from the accident.”
The crash occurred with 25 kilometers remaining before the Sheffield finish in stage 3 of the British race.
After the recent announcement that Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish is suffering from Epstein-Barr virus, Bouhanni is the second top sprinter to withdraw from the 2017 Tour of California line-up.
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