Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) will not take the start of the Tour de France. Injuring in the right hand following an altercation that occurred at the hotel the night before the French Championships, the Frenchman was taken to hospital where he got four stitches.

It turned out that the wound was treated poorly. Faced with the deterioration of the situation, Bouhanni underwent surgery on Tuesday at 18.00 at the University Hospital in Nancy. The decision was made not to take any risk to  the health of Bouhanni, who now needs rest to get ready for new goals.

Nacer Bouhanni is replaced by Nicolas Edet. After great performances in the mountains at Route du Sud and with three participations in the Tour de France, Edet will strengthen the mountain group alongside Arnold Jeannesson, Luis Angel Mate and Daniel Navarro. The strategy of the team will obviously be changed but the objective remains a stage win.