‘It’s a bit annoying that some people just don’t care’ - Vacek on fan-caused crash at Vuelta a España stage 2
Czech rider chased back on to keep best young rider jersey
![OUREM PORTUGAL AUGUST 18 Mathias Vacek of Czech Republic and Team Lidl Trek White Best Young Rider Jersey competes during the 79th La Vuelta Ciclista a Espana 2024 Stage 2 a 194km stage from Cascais to Ourem UCIWT on August 18 2024 in Ourem Portugal Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ECgMcr6HEsETuhaiPJmw6d-320-80.jpg)
Everything was going great for Lidl-Trek’s Mathias Vacek in the Vuelta a España stage 2 until an incident with a spectator almost cost him the best young rider jersey. On the climb up the cat. 4 Alto da Batalha, Vacek hit the deck when fans, standing on the road, interfered with the path of the riders.
The Czech rider got up quickly and was seen gesturing towards the people on the side of the road before re-mounting on a new bike to try and chase back up to the field that was accelerating for the looming bunch sprint finish.
With already a 45-second gap to close down, the 22-year-old then had to dig deep in his solo chase, finally catching onto the back of the peloton with 10 kilometres to go.
"I crashed on the last climb with 20km to go," Vacek said. "Just some fans standing on the road. They touched me and I came down.
"It’s a bit annoying that some people just don’t care and don’t let the riders pass with some space, but that’s how it is. I came safe into the finish and I’m happy that I’m OK," he said.
“I needed to do a big effort to come back to the group, but I still could make it in such a good time and I could recover a bit. But I didn’t have the power anymore for the finish. It is how it is.”
Finishing second in the stage 1 time trial, Vacek was only two seconds back from overnight leader Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and wanted to snatch the red leader’s jersey with the bonus seconds available for the top 3 finishers in Ourém. It would be a tall order to do so as Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike), at three seconds down, was also in striking distance of the red jersey, but Vacek didn’t have the legs left to try.
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He first tested his legs in the intermediate sprint, where one bonus second was still up for grabs after the two-man breakaway claimed the first two spots. But with sprint points also available, fast man Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) had other plans as he sprinted for third and denied Vacek and Van Aert that one second.
Using so much energy to rejoin the field, Vacek was not able to contest the sprint and finished safely in the bunch in 44th place.
“For sure, I wanted to fight for the red jersey also at the finish and to do a good result, but with the crash and the effort I needed to put in, I didn’t have the legs anymore. I’m happy that I could keep the white jersey and that I’m OK.”
Vacek now sits in third place overall, five seconds behind new leader Van Aert who finished second behind winner Groves. He leads the best young rider classification with six seconds on Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers).
❌ "𝗘𝘀 𝗱𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘂̈𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗮" ❌🤬 El público vuelve a ser triste protagonista en el ciclismo con dos enganchones en la parte final de la etapa. Vacek, que tuvo que echar pie a tierra, se encaró con varios aficionados.#LaVuelta24 | #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/1PbPQ5e95SAugust 18, 2024
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Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.