On Tuesday, during his fourth breakaway of the 2024 Vuelta Ciclista a España, Wout van Aert was extending his King of the Mountains lead when he crashed with two other riders. Despite continuing for a while, he ultimately had to abandon the race. Van Aert, who had previously achieved a hat trick of stage wins, had also suffered a two-month injury break earlier this year. The crash occurred on the stage finishing at Lagos de Covadonga, where his group was over six minutes ahead of the peloton. Following his accident, Jay Vine took over the mountains classification jersey, and Kaden Groves claimed the green jersey previously held by van Aert.
Hiis team, Visma – Lease a Bike provided an update after the stage.
“Van Aert reached the top of the first climb of the day first. He was also the first rider to reach the top of the second climb of the day, the Collada Llomena, a statement began.”Meanwhile, light rain caused a wet road. On the descent, things went wrong for Van Aert. Following the lead of another rider, the Belgian slid down in a bend, then hit the rock face. After trying to continue his way, he appeared to be in too much pain.”
Terrible. 💔 The Green Jersey, Wout van Aert is forced to abandon La Vuelta after a crash on the descent of Collada Llomena. He tried to continue but he couldn’t push the pedal with one leg. When he seemed to finally be back to his best, this happens…so sad.#LaVuelta24 pic.twitter.com/m4By1Z7nqw
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) September 3, 2024
Team Visma | Lease a Bike directeur sportif Grischa Niermann told VTM, he knew right away, it didn’t look good.
Wout van Aert opens up about horrific crash in new documentary
“Our mechanic stayed with Wout and our team doctor is also on his way, we don’t know anything else yet. Only that he fell on his knee. The fact that he got into the ambulance does not bode well. This is just very sour, things continue to go wrong for us,” he said.
He is now in the hospital for examination and tests.
“Wout was taken to hospital by ambulance. There he will undergo examinations. Of course we are so sad seeing him leave the Vuelta in this manner. Luck has not been on our side this season. We all feel for him,” Niermann said.
Van Aert was having a terrific comeback, wearing both the mountains and points. He spent months trying to get back to form after his crash in the spring.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…