Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) was forced out of the Vuelta a España today after crashing into a bollard inside the final three kilometres which had been left unprotected by the race organisers in Lugo. He was later diagnosed with a broken collarbone.
“My ribs and collarbone hurt a lot,” Kruijswijk said afterwards. “I crashed heavily into that pole. It’s terrible that I have to leave this race because of an object that shouldn’t have been there. I’m going home immediately tomorrow. This was, after the Giro d’Italia, my second big target and I’m really fed up about the way I’m leaving this Vuelta.”
“It didn’t go the way we wanted in this race,” Directeur Sportif Addy Engels added. “The first summit finish already was a disappointment. It went a little bit better yesterday and we were positive about the possibility that Steven Kruijswijk would have been able to reach his top level during this Vuelta.”
“This crash is an enormous setback. Steven’s general classification was the team’s main target in this race. Now, we have to change plans. We only covered five stages so far, so we need some time to get used to this scenario.”
“It’s not something we’re immediately capable of because we were all here with the mindset to do it for Steven. We have to take a look at our options. We definitely will have some chances, because we’re here with a strong team.”
It’s not the first incident of this type to occur during a top level race. In the 2015 Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Peter Stetina and Sergio Pardilla were left badly injured after crashing into a pole.
Gianni Meersman (Etixx – Quick Step) won today’s stage for his second win of the race while Darwin Atapuma (BMC Racing Team) hung on to the race lead.
You got to wonder who the bright spark was that decided a bollard in that random position was a good idea to begin with.