Team Total Energy's Daniel Oss has been forced to retire from the Tour de France after an incident with a spectator along the cobbled stage to Arenberg yesterday.

The team confirmed his withdrawal in a tweet (opens in new tab) Thursday morning. 'Additional tests revealed a fractured vertebrae which will require several weeks of immobilization. Daniel Os has therefore been forced to withdraw from the Tour de France.

The 35-year-old Oss collided with a fan on the stage from Lille to Arenberg.

The collision occurred in sector 3, when Os hit a fan who stepped slightly out of his path. Despite this accident, Os completed the stage.

Stage 5 was a day of mechanical incidents and crashes. Oss was one of three riders who failed to make the start line for stage 6 in Bintje, Belgium, and Michal Gogl (Alpecin-Desseuninck) also left the race after crashing with Oss. Gogl broke his collarbone and pelvis.

Jack Haig, one of the leaders of the Bahrain Victorious, also abandoned. Haig also crashed at the 2021 Tour.

Information on Os' injury is limited at the moment, but it is clear that Os will be forced to stay out of the sport for a significant period of time while he recovers. Italian rider Peter Sagan is an important second-in-command for Os.

The two moved from Bora-Hansgrohe to Total Energy at the end of the 2021 season.

Accidents involving roadside spectators have been prominent in France in recent seasons; in April, Yves Lampère was knocked down by a fan who leaned into the road in the closing stages of Paris-Roubaix. In last year's Tour de France, a fan holding up a sign caused a crash involving the entire Jumbo-Visma team. As a result, they were fined.