Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini and former world champion Elisa Balsamo have withdrawn before stage 7 of the Tour de France Femme, leaving Lidle Trek without two of the team's strongest riders.

In an announcement on Saturday morning, Lidtrek said, "Elisa Balsamo will not start stage 7 due to fatigue. She was returning to racing with TDFF after her crash at the RideLondon Classic and will miss the last two stages with a view to preparing for the World Championships in Glasgow.

Balsamo won the rainbow stripe at the 2021 World Championships in Leuven and was Junior World Champion in 2016. She will be a major contender for the Glasgow World Championships in 2023.

In that context, her departure from the race may not be surprising, but Longo Borghini's departure from the race is not expected given that she is currently fourth overall, with the same time as Annemiek van Fruten (Movistar).

"Unfortunately, Elisa Longo Borghini also had to withdraw from the Tour de France femme before today's Col du Tourmalet stage, which she was looking forward to. The Italian champion has a skin infection on her upper left thigh that required hospital treatment after stage 6 and is now under control. However, she is still in considerable pain and has decided to miss no further races for her long-term health.

Longo Borghini was forced to abandon the Giro d'Italia Donne earlier this month after crashing on the final descent of stage 5.

"Luckily, the consequences of the fall were not as bad as I had assumed at the first check. 'Right now my ribs just hurt, but I'm ready to run. So now I just have sore ribs and I'm ready to go. I'm going to find a stage here and go for the GC. I will take it one day at a time and see what the end result will be," added Longo Borghini.

After the departure of Longo Borghini and Balsamo, Lidl Trek will continue with five riders, including Lizzie Deignan. Amanda Spratt is currently Lidl Trek's highest ranked rider in 12th place overall.

In total, 21 riders left the race in 2023.