Declaring he now starts another race, Australian Ben O'Connor concedes his overall Tour de France hopes are gone.
Two years after finishing fourth at the Tour, the AG2R rider started with strong ambitions of another big general classification (GC) result.
But O'Connor finished 39th on stage nine, which finished on the Puy de Dome climb, and lost a whopping 16 minutes 21 seconds to Canadian winner Michael Woods.
That meant the Australian dropped from 11th to 18th on GC and is 14:04 behind Danish race leader and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.
AG2R manager Vincent Lavenu said in a team statement that O'Connor was unwell on the stage on a mixed day for their squad, with Clement Berthet taking fifth.
Lavenu said O'Connor's bad day meant they would now prioritise breakaways and trying to win stages.
“I have managed in the past to make the best of certain situations. You have to accept it and stay optimistic," O'Connor said.
"In the next two weeks I will focus on the stages and be more aggressive. It's not over, it's just another race starting for me.
"That's what I like to do, be aggressive. Racing for the general classification is still a dream but sometimes things don't go as expected."
Compatriot Jai Hindley (BORA-Hansgrohe) also struggled on the Puy de Dome, but remains third overall at 2:40.
All 12 Australian starters remain in the Tour, which has its first rest day on Monday night (AEST).
