Thibaut Pinot could miss Tour de France after being hospitalised with pneumonia at Giro d'Italia

Thibaut Pinot could miss the Tour de France after being hospitalised with pneumonia following stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia.

Pinot, who had been sitting in third place in the general classification at the start of the day, got into serious difficulty on the penultimate stage of the race, managing to cross the line before being taken to hospital with severe dehydration and a very high temperature.

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After spending the night in hospital on a drip, Pinot was diagnosed with pneumonia, before being discharged from hospital on Sunday afternoon, travelling back to France where he will have a period of rest that, according to Groupama-FDJ medical staff, could put his Tour de France in doubt.

"He's feeling better," Jacky Maillot, Groupama-FDJ team doctor, told French sports newspaper L'Equipe on Sunday.

"He is going to be on antibiotics for twelve days and is will have to have an indefinite period of rest for the moment.

"We can not predict anything at this point if it will be two or three weeks off. As long as he has not recovered from this beginning of pneumonia, we can not consider anything."

That "indefinite period of rest" will put a serious dent in Pinot's Tour de France preparations, if not rule the Frenchman out of the race altogether.

Pinot had looked impressive for much of the three week race, spending much of the time hovering in third or fourth position before dropping back to 16th as he finished in the gruppetto on stage 20.

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He had been planning to ride the Giro d'Italia in pursuit of a high position in the general classification before heading to the Tour de France in search of stage wins.

The 2018 Tour de France stages on July 7 in Noirmoutier-en-l'Île.