5 Sep 2010

Team Sky pull out of Tour of Spain after assistant dies

7:15 am on 5 September 2010

Team Sky have withdrawn from cycling'sTour of Spain following the death of their Spanish assistant Txema Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, 43, died on Friday after a severe bacterial infection developed into sepsis.

A minute's silence was held at the start of the Tour's stage eight, the first mountainous stage, won by France's David Moncoutie.

Spanish rider Igor Anton took the overall leader's red jersey.