Tobias Halland Johannessen Collapses After Mont Ventoux Finish in Tour de France, Rushed to Hospital

Disturbing news from the Uno-X Mobility camp. Team leader Tobias Halland Johannessen collapsed after the finish of the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France. This was reported by the Norwegian TV2. The climber briefly lost consciousness, was given oxygen, and then taken to the hospital. Soon, there were positive updates on his health.

Johannessen was still holding his own in the leading group during the early climbing kilometers of Mont Ventoux, but had to drop back when Jonas Vingegaard accelerated. From that point, it was a matter of damage control for the Norwegian, but the 25-year-old rider struggled significantly.

The Uno-X Mobility leader ultimately crossed the line in 28th place, alongside his teammate Andreas Leknessund, five minutes and 11 seconds behind stage winner Valentin Paret-Peintre. Johannessen lost over four minutes to Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, the top GC contenders in the day's results.

Stomach cramps
Shortly after the finish, Johannessen’s condition deteriorated dramatically. The climber collapsed and was briefly placed on a ventilator. “I can’t say much about it right now,” said team director Stig Kristiansen to TV2. “He complained of stomach cramps in the last kilometers.”

After regaining consciousness, Johannessen still had to be transported by ambulance to the nearest hospital. Initially, it was unclear how serious his condition was. The rider remains eighth overall in the general classification after the Ventoux stage, 17 minutes behind leader Tadej Pogacar.

Update

Hushovd: "He feels much better now"
Thor Hushovd, the team manager of Uno-X Mobility, has provided an update to WielerFlits. “Tobias is feeling much better now. It looked dramatic.” He suffered from stomach cramps and is now heading to the hospital for a medical check-up, based on the advice of our team doctor. That’s the best course of action.”

“Will this affect the rest of his Tour? It’s too soon to say. His health comes first, and we’ll listen to his body if there are any problems. But we will only be able to assess that later today.”