Thibaut Pinot's 2020 season is already over.
63rd place in the general classification, the leader of the Groupama-FDJ team has decided not to start the 3rd stage of the Vuelta.
Pinot has still suffered from his lower back since he was hit by another runner on the Promenade des Anglais on August 29 during the first stage of the Tour de France.
Since then, the stages, whether on the Tour de France or that of Spain, have only been a long way of the cross.
Pinot, contrary to what he hoped, did not recover sufficiently after the Tour.
His presence on the Vuelta, decided on ten days earlier, looked above all like a bet.
He had aligned himself with a modest ambition: to be the teammate of the other house climber, David Gaudu.
Priority to rest and the 2021 season
But from the first hectometers uphill during the first stage, the pains woke up.
He should have already given up on the Tour where he was no longer useful since his failure during the Loudenvielle stage in the Pyrenees.
But Pinot absolutely wanted to compete in the penultimate stage: the time trial in the Vosges which passed through his village of Mélisey.
But he paid for this sentimental obstinacy at the cost of worsening his injury.
This time, common sense won.
"Priority is given to his full recovery for 2021," wrote his team in a press release.
Next year, Pinot has promised to return to the Tour de France.
But maybe he will do it in a role of maverick stage hunter rather than leader for the general classification.