Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) confirmed on Friday that he will miss this year´s Tour de France as he recovers from the pneumonia and fatigue that abruptly ended his Giro d´Italia. In an interview with L´Équipe published on Saturday, the Frenchman revisited his travails on the penultimate stage of the Giro and acknowledged that his tendency to fall ill during Grand Tours limits his prospects of winning a three-week stage race. Pinot was on course for a podium place at this year´s Giro only to lose 45 minutes on the final mountain stage to Cervinia. He was taken to hospital in Aosta that evening and was too ill to start the following day´s concluding stage in Rome.ADVERTISEMENT `It´s not that it just happens often, it always happens. Apart from the 2014 Tour [where Pinot placed 3rd overall - ed.], I´ve never been at 100% like the other leaders in three-week races,` Pinot told L´Équipe. `I have the impression that it happens to me every time, even though I follow long-term treatments to help my immune system. It´s hard to deal with in your head, because I know that my only enemy is myself and my health. That´s maybe what differentiates me from the great riders, who stay at 100% over three weeks.` After placing in the first chasing group, three minutes behind Chris Froome (Team Sky), at Bardonecchia on stage 19, Pinot was confident of finishing on the final podium of the Giro and had even targeted stage victory at Cervinia. After a poor night´s sleep, however, he realised that his task would be more difficult, and he began to struggle with the effects of a fever after the stage began. `I went from a legendary day on the Friday, without doubt the most significant of my career, to a catastrophe on the Saturday,` Pinot said. `When I got back to the hotel and saw I was spitting blood, I was very frightened. In the ambulance, I wasn´t conscious anymore and I didn´t know what was happening to me. The worst was at the hospital, when the doctor who carried out the scans ...
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