Greg LeMond will miss the race he loves the most, the Tour de France.
The three-time champion has an allergy that weakened him too much this season for the race that begins Saturday.The American cyclist has been riding poorly all season. He has dropped out of several races and finished far back in ones he completed.
Lemond suffered stomachaches and dysentery shortly before dropping out of the Tour of Italy earlier in June.
He went for medical tests last week following another poor performance that left him gasping, 39 minutes behind, on the first climb in a low-key race.
Roger Legeay, head of LeMond's GAN team, said Sunday that he was not putting the American on the starting list for the Tour de France. Instead, he will name an all-French team.
"Greg suffers from a weakness, an allergy from the Tour of Italy that weakened his immune system, which explains his great fatigue," Legeay told reporters at the French cycling championships in Chatellerault.