German sprinter John Degenkolb will miss his first Tour de France since 2012 as his Trek-Segafredo team look set to pick a team solely around the General Classification hopes of Richie Porte.
Talking to German website Radsport, Degenkolb admitted that he was not currently in Trek-Segafredo's Tour team although he respects their opinion to fully back Porte instead of taking an option for the sprint days.
'As it stands now, I will not be riding the Tour de France this year,' said Degenkolb adding that the team's decision to back Porter was 'a decision that I fully accept because I said: what is good for the team and their goals are good for all of us.'
The Trek-Segafredo team invested in Australian GC rider Porte over the winter, picking the 34-year-old up from the now-defunct BMC Racing team.
The acquisition of Porte was expected to give the American team an option of racing the Tour for overall victory however the Australian has failed to gather any momentum in the first half of the season.
While he managed his annual victory on Willunga Hill at the Tour Down Under, alongside a second-place finish overall, he has failed to perform since with lowly performances at the UAE Tour and Volta a Cataluyna.
Porte raced the recent Criterium du Dauphine yet could only muster 11th overall, 1 minute 44 seconds down on eventual winner Jakob Fuglsang of Astana.
Despite this, Trek will build its Tour team around Porte which will see Degenkolb left out of the team.
Degenkolb provided the team's only success at last year's race, taking a memorable Stage 9 victory to Roubaix.
While there remains a glimmer of hope for Degenkolb riding the Tour, it seems as if the former Paris-Roubaix champion is resigned to missing out and will have to come to terms with his omission.
'The final decision has not yet been made but after six consecutive participations, the renunciation this year is for me to get over,' said Degenkolb.
A further rumour has also seen Degenkolb linked with a move away from Trek-Segfredo at the end of the year with Lotto-Soudal his likely new home.
The 30-year-old's contract is up at the end of the year and Lotto-Soudal are interested in bolstering its Spring Classics team with the double Monument winner at the top of their shopping list.