Primoz Roglic’s chances of winning the Vuelta for the fourth time in a row are over after a fall injured him and forced him to withdraw from the race before the 17th stage.
“Unfortunately, @rogla will not be at the start of stage 17 due to yesterday’s crash,” his Jumbo-Visma team tweeted on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Slovenian failed to close the gap on Belgian race leader Remco Evenepoel when he launched a late attack in Tuesday’s stage.
But Roglic, the three-time defending champion, swerved and crashed hard 100m from the finish line. His blood-splattered left knee and hand.
He still crossed the line, but he was clearly in pain and clutching his side before collapsing to his knees after dismounting.
With the race set to finish on Sunday, Roglic, who also retired early from this year’s Tour de France due to a fall, was 1 minute 26 seconds behind Evenepoel.
Enric Mas of Spain, who needs to make up 2min 01sec, is Evenepoel’s closest rival now.
The stage on Wednesday is a challenging 162.3-kilometer ride that concludes high up at the Tentudia Monastery.
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