Tobias Johannessen taken to a hospital with oxygen after gruelling climb to Mont Ventoux –

Tour de France stage 16 ended in a big scare for Tobias Johannessen, the Norwegian rider from Uno-X. Right after crossing the finish line at Mont Ventoux, one of the hardest stages in the race, with a 8.8% slope in 15,7 km of climb, he fell to the ground, and was evacuated in ambulance with oxygen.

Thankfully, despite the dramatic scenes, Uno-X quickly sent a statement saying he was all right. “Tobias suffered some right sided upper abdominal pain during the final climb today. He made it to the finish where he was seen immediately by the race doctors and given oxygen. He is feeling much better but will go to the local hospital for further checks“.

“He spoke to us during the last few kilometers and said he was having difficulty breathing. He had stomach cramps. It’s a mountain that demands its own effort,” team manager Stig Kristiansen told Norwegian TV2 (via Mundo Deportivo).

In 1967, cycling Tom Simpson, World Champion in 1965, died of a heart attack as a result of the sun at the same stage, Mont Ventoux. It was later discovered that the British had taken amphetamines, which contributed to his heart attack. Thankfully, it seems that Johannessen’s incident was only a scare.

Johannessen, eighth in the GC, finished 28th at Mont Ventoux, 5 minutes and 11 seconds behind winner Valentine Paret Peintre, followed closely by Ben Healy, the Irishman that once held the yellow jersey, but is now ninth in the General Classification. As expected, the Tour is now a race between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, but the distance is already big between them (4 minutes 15 seconds). Third in the GC is Florian Lipowitz, 9 minutes behind the Slovenian.