Poland has been making the headlines with all the crashes and misdirected riders or a team time trial on a one-kilometre circuit, but the Vuelta offered some pavement action, too. Yesterday it was Frenchman Rony Martias (Bouygues Telecom), who went down for the second time during the race. Still confident before the start to stage 12 he told velo-101.fr that "My back hurts and I have injured my leg. I also developed a stomach ache, but I want to make it to Madrid." But the second time he went down, in stage 12, proved to be the end of his Vuelta.
Paolo Tiralongo (Lampre-Fondital) also sustained injuries that forced him to abandon the race. The damage to his left arm was worse than initially thought, and an examination back home revealed that he fractured a bone in his left elbow. Tiralongo will likely be out for a month.
