American Brandon McNulty, a key climbing teammate for race leader Tadej Pogacar, abandoned the Tour de France on Thursday's 18th stage.
The 28-year-old had been riding on his own right at the back of the field and more than 20 minutes behind the head of the race when he called it quits.
Just a day earlier, another important Pogacar teammate, Adam Yates, was similarly struggling off the back of the peloton.
He limped home more than 26 minutes after stage 17 winner Jasper Philipsen with help from another teammate Tim Wellens.
Unfortunately, despite battling hard to stay in the race, @BrandonMcNult has been forced to abandon @LeTour.
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) July 23, 2026
Brandon had been suffering from illness and leaves the race on stage 18.
You’ll be missed, Brandon. Feel better soon 🙏 #WeAreUAE | #TDF2026 pic.twitter.com/5heA21hmrj
Yates beat the time-cut by about 10 minutes.
Pogacar revealed after Wednesday's stage that Yates had been suffering from an upset stomach, and had been feeling even worse the previous day during the individual time-trial along the shores of Lake Geneva.
Yates again dropped out of the main bunch on Thursday but not until much later in the stage.
Wellens also told reporters earlier on Thursday he was not feeling well.
Thursday's stage was the first of three crucial runs through the Alps where the overall Tour winner will be decided.
Yates and McNulty would have been important mountain lieutenants for Pogacar, who is aiming for a record-equalling fifth Tour victory and leads Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel by four and a half minutes in the overall standings.