Wout van Aert has abandoned the Vuelta a España after crashing on the descent of the Collada Llomena on stage 16 to Lagos de Covadonga.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider injured his left knee in a crash just 50 km from the finish after leading the first two climbs of the stage during the day’s early group stage.
Van Aert tried to resume the race after receiving a spare wheel, but he was unable to pedal and was visibly in pain. After a few hundred meters he stopped again and got into the Visma team car.
Van Aert crashed in a sharp left-hand bend after fellow breakaway rider Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla) crashed in front of him. Behind Van Aert, Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) also crashed, but only the Visma rider appeared to have sustained serious injuries.
“Wout was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He is being examined there,” said sports director Grischa Niermann in a social media post from the team. “Of course we are very sad that he is leaving the Vuelta in this way. Luck has not been on our side this season. We all feel for him.”
Van Aert also fell at the beginning of the 16th stage when the group was forming, but without serious consequences.
The Belgian led both the points and mountains classifications in this Vuelta after a series of brilliant performances in the first two weeks, including a hat-trick of stage wins.
He is the second Visma-Lease a Bike rider to crash at the 2024 Vuelta. On stage two, Dylan van Baarle was the first to abandon the race when he crashed heavily and broke his hip.
It remains to be seen whether Van Aert will recover in time to compete for the Belgian team in the World Championship road races in Zurich on September 29. He should also compete in the European Championships on home roads in Hasselt.
Van Aert’s original plans for the 2024 season were derailed by a heavy crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen, which left him with a broken collarbone and forced him to abandon the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and his planned Giro d’Italia debut.
He returned to action in time to compete in the Tour de France and support Jonas Vingegaard, and won a bronze medal in the time trial at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The Collada Llomena descent was first used in the 2021 Vuelta a España as a warm-up route for Lagos de Covadonga and gained a reputation for being extremely technical this year. This year, Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), then riding for Movistar, suffered a heavy crash on the same descent where Van Aert crashed and was also forced to abandon the course due to his injuries.
Following Van Baarle’s retirement and Cian Uijtdebroeks’ COVID-19-related withdrawal, there are only five riders left in the race following Van Aert’s withdrawal from the race for Visma-Lease a Bike.
