Defending Tour de France champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) will not start Wednesday's 17th stage after he abandoned the race.

Ineos Grenadiers announced early Wednesday morning that the 23-year-old Colombian "will now focus on recovering from the Tour and re-set his goals for the rest of the season."

Bernal, who had held his own in the first two weeks of the race, winning the white jersey as best young rider on six stages, cracked on the Col du Grand Colombier climb on stage 15 on Sunday.

Following a rest day on Monday, Bernal lost more time to his overall rivals on stage 16 and by Tuesday evening was in 16th place overall, 19-04 behind race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma).

Ineos Grenadiers team principal Dave Brailsford said the decision was made "in Egan's best interest."

"Egan is a true champion who loves to race, but he is also a young rider with many tours ahead of him.

Brailsford said before Tuesday's stage that Bernal planned to continue riding to Paris, but his conditions no longer seem to allow it.

Bernal added: "I'm not going to be able to ride the Tour de France like this. I didn't want the Tour de France to end like this. I have the greatest respect for this race and I am already looking forward to coming back for many more years to come."

He added: "I am very happy to be back.

After Tuesday's stage, Bernal described himself as "all sides" according to the Spanish sports newspaper AS.

"I suffered all day with pain in my back and it just kept getting worse. The pain transferred to my knees on the last climb. I was ruined on all sides," he said.

The Colombian's abandonment shows how difficult this Tour has been for Ineos Grenadier, in contrast to Team Ineos and Team Sky, with Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, and Bernal, who have dominated the race with seven wins in the last eight Tours. In contrast, the Tour of France has been dominated by Team Ineos and Team Sky, which have won seven of the last eight Tours.

Speculation is inevitable as to whether Bernal will focus on the Vuelta a España again, but that remains to be seen. As it stands, two-time Vuelta winner Froome is the sole leader of the Ineos Grenadiers in the Spanish Grand Tour.